The Trump Administration has appointed Dr. Ralph Abraham, a longtime vaccine skeptic, as principal deputy director and second in command at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Abraham previously served as Surgeon General of Louisiana, where he opposed COVID-19 vaccinations and directed state health officials to stop promoting mass immunization efforts.
CDC gets news deputy director
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Tuesday that it selected Dr. Abraham for the CDC leadership role but offered no further comment.
As Louisiana’s Surgeon General, Abraham instructed health officials to stop promoting mass vaccination, questioned COVID-19 vaccines, and publicly supported ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, both scientifically proven ineffective against the virus.
An NPR investigation reported that the Louisiana health department waited two months to inform the public about a whooping cough outbreak during Abraham’s tenure.
Doctors worry about CDC leadership
“This is very disturbing, very worrisome,” said Dr. Robin Dretler, infectious disease specialist at Emory-Decatur Hospital and board member of the Infectious Disease Society of America. “He has had a lot of beliefs that are non-scientific about vaccines.”
“He kept the knowledge of an epidemic from the public, endangering the public,” Dretler added. “This is not a man who we should have second in command of our major public-health institution.”
Some Georgia physicians say they have already begun relying more heavily on their medical associations than on CDC guidance.
“I never thought in my lifetime I would say I’m not listening to what the CDC is saying,” said Dr. Cecil Bennett, medical director of Newnan Family Medicine Associates and a member of Gov. Brian Kemp’s Healthcare Workforce Assessment Board.
“The decisions I make are based on strong science… on my academy, the American Academy of Family Physicians.”
Dretler said he worries the leadership change could make future vaccines harder to produce, harder to access, and more difficult to update.
Doctors worry about vaccination policy
Medical professionals across Georgia say they are alarmed by the move, worried about the future of vaccination policy and public health messaging in the state.
The union representing more than 2,000 CDC employees says confusion is spreading within the agency after the CDC recently changed language on its website to read:
“The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.”
The overwhelming consensus of peer-reviewed scientific research shows that vaccines do not cause autism.
Now, with a vaccine skeptic serving as the CDC’s No. 2 official, doctors say the development is deeply troubling.
“We’re still astounded,” said Yolanda Jacobs, president of AFGE Local 2883, the CDC employees’ union. “We’re still trying to work out what that’s going to mean for the CDC.”
Doctor’s advice on vaccines
Dr. Bennett urged patients to rely on their own physicians when making decisions about vaccines.
“I’m not saying everyone should get every single vaccine under the sun,” he said. “But patients should sit with their provider, examine their situation, and make a reasonable decision.”
