Health Official Who Stopped Promoting Vaccines in Louisiana Quietly Appointed to No. 2 Job at CDC
The new principal deputy director says vaccines should be ‘treated with nuance.’
The Trump Administration has quietly named Dr. Ralph Abraham, the surgeon general of Louisiana who ordered the state to stop promoting vaccinations, as the second-highest ranking official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Abraham’s appointment to the position was not announced by the CDC. It was first reported by Inside Medicine, which obtained a screenshot from an internal email list that showed Dr. Abraham listed as the principal deputy director. The CDC confirmed his appointment.
The news of his appointment comes just days after the CDC updated language on its website to state, “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.”
Dr. Abraham, a former Republican congressman and physician, has not explicitly stated that he is against vaccines. However, during his time as the surgeon general, he directed Louisiana’s Health Department to stop using media and health fairs to promote vaccines.
In a memo announcing the decision, Dr. Abraham said that Louisiana would “encourage each patient to discuss the risks and benefits of vaccination with their provider,” but would “no longer promote mass vaccination.”
“Vaccines should be treated with nuance, recognizing differences between seasonal vaccines and childhood immunizations, which are an important part of providing immunity to our children,” the memo said.
In September 2025, he thanked President Trump and the Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for their “leadership and a common sense approach” after they warned pregnant women against taking Tylenol.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Abraham promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine to help treat patients. An analysis by MedPage Today reported in 2021 that he was the seventh highest prescriber of ivermectin — which some conservatives promoted as an alternative treatment for Covid — in the state.
Dr. Abraham’s new position comes as the CDC still does not have a permanent director. The former CDC director, Susan Monarez, was ousted in August amid her tumultuous relationship with Mr. Kennedy.
The deputy HHS secretary, Jim O’Neill, has been serving as the acting director of the CDC.
