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Welcome to The Logoff: The CDC has a brand new second in command — with a protracted, regarding file of anti-vaccine rhetoric and actions.
Who’s the brand new man? Dr. Ralph Abraham, who was beforehand a member of Congress and the surgeon normal of Louisiana, is the CDC’s new principal deputy director. He seemingly began the job over the weekend, however there was no official announcement of his appointment to a senior public well being position; we solely find out about it because of reporting (the Substack Inside Medication had it first).
What can we find out about Abraham’s beliefs? Abraham has repeatedly shared public well being misinformation, together with backing ineffective Covid-19 therapies like ivermectin, and he seems to align intently with Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on vaccines.
As Louisiana surgeon normal, Abraham ended a marketing campaign to advertise childhood vaccinations and didn’t alert Louisianans about whooping cough deaths in a well timed method.
What’s the context? Federal public well being companies just like the CDC are on the heart of an ongoing energy battle over vaccines, with Kennedy, a outstanding anti-vaccine advocate, seemingly clashing with extra restrained officers like FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. Abraham’s file — together with selling debunked claims about vaccines and autism and the unsubstantiated Tylenol-autism linkage promoted by the White Home — suggests he can be a Kennedy ally.
Why does this matter? Abraham’s arrival on the CDC is the newest in a sequence of regarding strikes by Kennedy, who beforehand eliminated each member of a CDC advisory panel on vaccines and crippled the company’s senior management by eradicating its newly confirmed director and sparking a wave of resignations. The end result has been a gradual erosion of confidence in America’s public well being companies and extra confusion and misinformation about vaccines.
And with that, it’s time to sign off…
Right here’s some excellent news from the world of world public well being to stability the highest half of as we speak’s e-newsletter: A livesaving malaria vaccine is about to get cheaper. It’s a small change — from about $4 to $2.99 per dose — however at scale, it’s set to make a giant distinction. Gavi, a world vaccine partnership, says the lower will let it fund 30 million extra doses of vaccine over the subsequent 5 years, doubtlessly serving to some 7 million youngsters.
And if you’d like one thing just a little extra faraway from the information cycle, right here’s an incredible lengthy learn to file away for the vacation weekend: Defector wrote about the true Marty Supreme, desk tennis star Marty Reisman, who served as inspiration for the upcoming movie of the identical identify (concerning the fictional Marty Reisman).