Louisiana's Ban On Promoting Flu Shot Going Very Well ... For The Flu
Congratulations to the influenza virus, sorry to everyone else.
Hey! Are you a normal, non-conspiracy-minded person living in Louisiana who doesn’t particularly enjoy being sick but just hasn’t gotten around to getting their flu shot yet? Well, you may want to get on that as soon as possible, because having the flu sucks and you really do not want to get it. Transmission rates in the state are currently surging — a relatively foreseeable but unfortunate result of the state health department’s bizarre decision to bar health workers from promoting flu, COVID, and mpox vaccines this year.
The CDC’s latest data shows that transmission rates for the virus are in the “very high” range, an elite distinction shared only by Oregon — which is not entirely surprising as, despite the state’s liberal bent, its rural areas have long been notoriously full of anti-vaxxers.
Earlier this month, several employees of the Louisiana Department of Health reached out to NPR and other news organizations to report that, back in September and October, they had been given orders to not do anything to promote flu vaccinations this year — including so much as letting people know that flu and COVID shots are available if people want them.
Via NPR:
NPR has confirmed the policy was discussed at this meeting, and at two other meetings held within the department's Office of Public Health, on Oct. 3 and Nov. 21, through interviews with four employees at the Department of Health, which employs more than 6,500 people and is the state's largest agency.
According to the employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they fear losing their jobs or other forms of retaliation, the policy would be implemented quietly and would not be put in writing.
Staffers were also told that it applies to every aspect of the health department's work: Employees could not send out press releases, give interviews, hold vaccine events, give presentations or create social media posts encouraging the public to get the vaccines. They also could not put up signs at the department's clinics that COVID, flu or mpox vaccines were available on site.
The new policy is likely attributable to Dr. Ralph Abraham, Louisiana’s newly appointed Surgeon General who happens to not believe in COVID vaccines.
In a statement to NPR, the state says that the plan to avoid mentioning vaccines altogether is part of their plan to move “away from one-size-fits-all paternalistic guidance” with regards to vaccines and to a stance in which “immunization for any vaccine, along with practices like mask wearing and social distancing, are an individual's personal choice.” Which, you know, will not be especially helpful should we have another pandemic, given that these are measures meant to help other people in addition to oneself. Still, we’re unclear how “letting people know they can get the flu shot” is at cross purposes with it “being an individual’s personal choice.”
It’s likely to become even more of a problem in certain states across the country if Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is put in charge of Health and Human Services, given his stance on vaccines.
Not only has the regular flu been surging, but just last week Louisiana became the first state to report a severe case of a human being with bird flu.
Via NBC:
“The patient is experiencing severe respiratory illness related to H5N1 infection and is currently hospitalized in critical condition,” said Emma Herrock, a spokeswoman for the Louisiana Health Department.
The CDC said the patient was likely exposed to the virus from a backyard flock, which would mark the first time such a flock has been associated with a bird flu infection in a U.S. resident.“While an investigation into the source of this infection in Louisiana is ongoing, it is believed that the patient that was reported by Louisiana had exposure to sick or dead birds on their property,” said Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
The hospital also said that the patient is 65 and has underlying medical conditions, which means that she’s probably not that one girl from the current season of “90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days” who kept talking about how chickens were her family.
There still, thankfully, has not been a case of human-to-human transmission of bird flu, but if we do ever get to that point, we’ll probably be entirely fucked, because we can pretty much guarantee that half of the country will do nothing to prevent its transmission beyond gulping down tubes of horse paste.
Because I do not work for the Louisiana state Health Department, I am free to tell all Louisianans to get out there and get their flu shots (and their COVID shots!) without fear of reprisal. At least for now! So go do that! In fact, go and do that regardless of the state you live in, if you haven’t already, because having the flu is a poor time and Ivermectin will not make it go away.
PREVIOUSLY ON WONKETTE!
OH! I should probably add that it's may not be the *best* idea to get your COVID and flu shot simultaneously, or at least not when you have to be at work the next day — your results may vary, but my sister did that this year and it was a poor time.
Get your fucking flu shot.
(This has been a public service announcement.)