Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy said it was Louisiana’s recent decision to cancel the promotion of massive vaccinations against preventable diseases.
Nevertheless, before those comments, a doctor-turned-politician who clashed with Donald Trump, cited anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of the US Health and Human Services department. He joined 51 Republicans by vote to confirm. Cassidy had previously voted to advance Trump’s Kennedy nomination as National Health Secretary from the committee level to the entire Senate.
Louisiana, which Cassidy has represented in the Senate since 2015, made a national headline on Thursday when surgeon Ralph Abraham announced that the state’s health department would “no longer promote mass vaccinations.” The directive means that state governments will immediately stop using media campaigns and health fairs, promoting or distributing vaccination vaccines that have been proven safe and effective for a long time, and essentially said that comparing “risks and benefits” would basically be for each family. They themselves.
Abraham’s announcement came on the same day as Kennedy’s confirmation as US health secretary, but it was a decline in vaccination rates that led to an increase in illness, hospitalizations and deaths of 4.5 million people, and return of measles and illnesses. It was quickly announced in the fear that led to. Polio has been almost eradicated by the vaccines that most people have received.
The announcement came when Louisiana surged in cases of flu. Therefore, safe and effective vaccines are offered seasonally that limit the spread and severity of the virus. It arrived as neighboring Texas reported about 50 cases of measles on Friday. This constitutes the state’s worst disease outbreak in about 30 years. And it came after the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, when a safe and effective protective vaccine was also developed – disproportionately affecting various communities in the state.
Cassidy on Friday joined the chorus of detractors who questioned the wisdom of the policy announced by Abraham, who has been in his position since June. He issued a statement that the policy for important vaccine-related resources is “not a parent’s rights position.” Rather, it “prevents healthcare from making it more convenient and accessible for people who are very busy.”
The senator said the health fair, shelved by his state, was a boon for parents who “suddenly realize they need to vaccinate their children and can’t see doctors.”
“Regular visits can take more than six weeks,” a statement from Cassidy said. He added that this is why during his previous career as a physician, he ran “a large-scale immunization programme to bring medical care and vaccination to patients.”
“What’s like a vaccine fair is preventing children from having to make sure school and mothers don’t miss work,” Cassidy said. “That’s the reality of medicine today. It can’t happen and saying someone has to wait for the next available appointment will ignore that reality.”
He continued. “Advertising the benefits of vaccines and where to get them will help parents improve their children’s health. It’s important that they may not be known or need to be reminded That’s information.”
These sentiments in particular are Kennedy, an open vaccine skeptic who helped Cassidy to appoint the post of US Secretary of Health, almost at the same time that Abraham abolished the promotion of Louisiana’s mass vaccinations. I am strongly in conflict with the support of.
Cassidy, 67, claimed in return for his support he secured a “close, cooperative work relationship” with Kennedy.
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However, Louisiana Republicans voted in favor of the vote, especially since the National Party voted in favor of Trump’s conviction at the perpetrators’ trial after his supporters attacked the US leaders. He has not kept secret the pressure he put on Cassidy to support Kennedy after he denounced the senator.
The bluff each against Trump’s attack was made in a desperate attempt to get him in office despite losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden – failed. He then defeated Biden’s vice-president Kamala Harris in the November election to recapture the White House. This was a contest that Cassidy once predicted Trump would lose, ranking many Republicans.
Cassidy, who voted against Xavier Becerra, the health secretary to the Biden White House Senator, was re-elected in 2026. Several Louisiana political commentators told NBC News on Thursday that they must overcome a steep climb and make their running a successful run. It would already be the third period depicting at least one challenger: Republican state treasurer John Fleming.
“Senator Cassidy burned many bridges in Louisiana when he voted for President Trump’s bluff each,” political strategist James Hartman told NBC. “And Trump voters have long memories.”
On his side, Cassidy said he was “evidently working hard in 2026” while admitting that during his time in Shreveport in Louisiana he hadn’t officially signed up to run again. Ta.
