This story appeared in The Logoff, a day by day e-newsletter that helps you keep knowledgeable in regards to the Trump administration with out letting political information take over your life. Subscribe right here.
Welcome to The Logoff: The CDC has a brand new second in command — with an extended, 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 basic 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 function; we solely find out about it due to reporting (the Substack Inside Drugs had it first).
What will we find out about Abraham’s beliefs? Abraham has repeatedly shared public well being misinformation, together with backing ineffective Covid-19 remedies like ivermectin, and he seems to align intently with Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on vaccines.
As Louisiana surgeon basic, 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 shall 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 consequence 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 log out…
Right here’s some excellent news from the world of world public well being to steadiness the highest half of immediately’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 an enormous distinction. Gavi, a worldwide vaccine partnership, says the lower will let it fund 30 million extra doses of vaccine over the following 5 years, probably serving to some 7 million kids.
And in order for you one thing slightly extra faraway from the information cycle, right here’s an awesome lengthy learn to file away for the vacation weekend: Defector wrote about the actual Marty Supreme, desk tennis star Marty Reisman, who served as inspiration for the upcoming movie of the identical identify (in regards to the fictional Marty Reisman).
