Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Ralph Abraham, Louisiana's top health official and noted vaccine skeptic, has been hired for the No. 2 position at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Abraham's selection for the CDC's principal deputy director position was confirmed Tuesday by multiple news outlets. His appointment comes during a tumultuous period for the national public health agency after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired Director Susan Monarez following a clash over vaccine policy.
Most recently, Abraham served as Louisiana's surgeon general and drew headlines earlier this year when he ordered the state Department of Health to stop recommending mass vaccinations. At the time, Abraham issued statements saying the move was intended to rebuild trust with public health officials that he said had been eroded after what he described as missteps during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Conversations about specific vaccines, and whether or not a vaccine is right for a specific person, are best had with the individual's healthcare provider, who best understands their individual situation and relevant medical history," Abraham wrote in a post on X in February.
Earlier the Louisiana Department of Health under Abraham's leadership ordered public health workers to stop promoting the COVID, influenza or mpox vaccines, NPR reported. Abraham's positions run contrary to mainstream public health guidance and Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told NPR the department's position amounted to a "parody" of public health.
