This blog is originally appeared at LGBTQ Nation

Vaccine skeptics RFK Jr. and the state’s governor are leading the covert initiative.

In October and November, Louisiana officials held a series of meetings informing Department of Health staff that the state would no longer permit them to promote COVID, flu, and mpox vaccinations.

The new policy was to be enforced quietly, without being put in writing, according to four health department employees who spoke to NPR on the condition of anonymity.

In October and November, Louisiana officials informed Department of Health staff that they would no longer be allowed to promote COVID, flu, and mpox vaccinations. The new policy was to be quietly implemented without written documentation, according to four anonymous health department employees who spoke to NPR.

Employees were told they could not issue press releases, give interviews, organize vaccination events, present, or create social media content encouraging vaccination. They were also prohibited from posting signs at department clinics announcing the availability of vaccines.

One staff member expressed concern, saying, “I mean, do they want to dismantle public health?”

In 2023, Louisiana recorded 652 COVID-related deaths, including five children, and had the highest flu rate in the U.S. The state saw 586 flu-related deaths in 2022. As of August 2024, there had been 60 deaths and 33,435 cases of mpox in the U.S., with 309 cases reported in Louisiana through February 2023, before the state ceased reporting cases.

Kimberly Hood, former leader of the Office of Public Health, criticized the lack of transparency, saying, “I’m very surprised that anyone would call a state meeting, not provide an agenda for that meeting, not provide a written set of notes from that meeting… it sounds like people are trying to avoid public records laws.”

The policy change is linked to Gov. Jeff Landry (R), an outspoken vaccine skeptic, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Landry ally. As attorney general during the COVID pandemic, Landry opposed adding the COVID vaccine to the childhood immunization schedule, with Kennedy testifying alongside him and presenting false claims about the vaccines.

As governor, Landry has signed legislation rolling back vaccine requirements and questioning vaccine safety. He also appointed Dr. Ralph Abraham, a vaccine skeptic, as the state’s surgeon general. Abraham has linked vaccines to autism and claimed COVID vaccine adverse effects have been “suppressed.”

In a statement to NPR, the Louisiana Department of Health said it is “reevaluating both the state’s public health priorities as well as our messaging around vaccine promotion, especially for COVID-19 and influenza,” shifting from “one-size-fits-all paternalistic guidance” to allowing individuals to choose immunization, mask-wearing, and social distancing. The statement did not address mpox vaccinations.

Dr. George Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, called the policy “malpractice,” emphasizing that vaccination is one of the most important public health interventions. He stated, “Anyone who’s articulating that these vaccines are not well tested, they’re not safe, they’re not effective, is not giving you the science as we know it today.”

Former health staffer Hood described the spread of false claims as a “step backwards,” adding, “It’s a medical marvel that we’re fortunate enough to live in a time where these vaccines are available to us, and to not make use of that tool is unconscionable.”