The Louisiana Department of Health announced that it will no longer promote mass vaccination campaigns.
“The State of Louisiana and LDH have historically promoted vaccines for vaccine preventable illnesses through our parish health units, community health fairs, partnerships and media campaigns,” the memo from Louisiana’s Surgeon General Ralph Abraham and obtained by One American News read. “While we encourage each patient to discuss the risks and benefits of vaccination with their provider, LDH will no longer promote mass vaccination.”
In a public statement, Abraham acknowledged that the healthcare system is “still rebuilding from the COVID missteps.”
“To name a few: inaccurate and inconsistent guidance on masking, poor decisions to close schools, unjustifiable mandates on civil liberties, and false claims regarding natural immunity. But the greatest missteps were on vaccines and some continue to this day. Within months of their approval, COVID vaccines were shown to have no third-party benefit in terms of reduced transmission, yet they were still mandated — through both policy and social pressure,” he wrote. “That was an offense against personal autonomy that will take years to overcome.”
While some forms of government recommendations and medical guidances are appropriate, Abraham explained, the “promotion of specific pharmaceutical products rises to a different level, especially when the manufacturer is exempt from liability for harms caused by the drug, as is the case for many vaccines.”
“As Americans, we should recognize that our rights come to us as individuals,” he wrote. “We should reject this utilitarian approach and restore medical decision-making to its proper place: between doctors and patients. Perhaps there are some treatments that every human being should take, but they are few and far between, and things that are good generally don’t have to be pushed by the government.”
“Ultimately, restoring this trust requires returning medical decisions to the doctor-patient relationship, where informed, personalized care is guided by compassion and expertise rather than blanket government mandates,” Abraham concluded.
