A group of high-level managers at the Louisiana Department of Health walked into a Nov. 14 meeting in Baton Rouge expecting to talk about outreach and community events. Instead, they were told by an assistant secretary in the department and another official that department leadership had a new policy: Advertising or otherwise promoting the COVID,

State health officials say that Louisiana residents should decide for themselves whether to get vaccinated, especially for COVID-19 and influenza, breaking with broad vaccination campaigns at the agency in recent years and drawing rebukes from New Orleans officials and health experts.

In the wake of state public health officials barring promotion of certain vaccines -- as is occurring in Louisiana -- physicians and medical societies must speak out about the value of vaccination in children as well as adults,

Higher-ups in the state quietly ordered over 6,500 employees to stop promoting vaccines against COVID and the flu

In 2023, 652 people in Louisiana died of COVID, including five children, and the state is tied with Washington, D.C., for the highest rate of flu in the U.S. Flu killed 586 people in Louisiana in 2022, according to data from the state’s health department.

Louisiana has some of the highest flu and respiratory virus activity in the nation, but if you look at the Louisiana Surgeon General’s latest social media post regarding tips for flu season, a flu shot is not mentioned.

Louisiana public health officials are no longer permitted to promote vaccines, including those against illnesses such as COVID-19 and the flu, to members of the public in a new policy that was covertly implemented in the state.