Doctor critical of vaccinations quietly named CDC deputy
Dr. Ralph Abraham, who as Louisiana’s surgeon general ordered the state health department to stop promoting vaccinations and who called Covid vaccines “dangerous,” has been named deputy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Department of Health and Human Services did not announce the appointment and many CDC employees appeared unaware of it. But in the CDC’s internal database, Dr. Abraham is listed as the agency’s first deputy director, with a start date of Nov. 23. The appointment was first reported by Substack’s Inside Medicine column.
An HHS spokesperson confirmed Dr. Abraham’s new position, but declined further comment. Dr. Abraham did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dr. Abraham’s views on some issues align with those of Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He has advocated avoiding Tylenol in pregnancy except “when absolutely necessary” due to a possible link to autism. He has also advocated eliminating routine vaccination against hepatitis B at birth and removing ingredients such as aluminum salts, which are added to boost the immune response, from vaccines.
Dr. Abraham worked as a doctor and veterinarian for decades before winning a congressional seat representing Louisiana in 2014. He retired from Congress in 2020.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Abraham approved the drug hydroxychloroquine, a drug normally used to treat or prevent malaria, and supported the over-the-counter availability of ivermectin, a drug for parasitic infections in animals and humans. Both drugs have proven ineffective against Covid.
Dr. Abraham was appointed Surgeon General of Louisiana in 2024.
At the CDC, Dr. Abraham will be the highest-ranking official with a medical degree. The agency has no permanent director and the acting director, Jim O’Neill, is a former biotechnology executive.
As a senior health official, Dr. Abraham the state health department’s mass vaccination campaigns. While childhood vaccinations are “an important part of our children’s immunity,” he said, conversations about “whether or not a vaccine is appropriate for a particular individual are best had with that individual’s health care provider.”
Under his leadership, the Louisiana Department of Health waited two months to alert residents to an outbreak of whooping cough, or pertussis, in the state that had caused two deaths. Health departments typically quickly alert the public to outbreaks and conduct mass vaccination campaigns.
Dr. Nirav Shah, who served as the CDC’s principal deputy director for two years before stepping down this year, called Dr. Abraham was “unqualified” for the job and said when he learned of his appointment, “My jaw dropped.”
“A large part of the chief deputy’s portfolio is emergency response,” said Dr. Shah. “The delay in notifying the public of at least two whooping cough deaths is not only unacceptable but also shameful,” he added.
Dr. Abraham has strongly criticized the public health measures introduced during the Covid pandemic, calling them “tyrannical”. He also said the CDC recommendations on the vaccines were “significantly out of touch with reality.”
He has repeatedly provided misinformation about the vaccinations, including that they contained DNA contaminants and increased the risk of infection. And he has said that he sees people in his clinic “every day” who have been harmed by the vaccine.
“Within months of their approval, Covid vaccines were shown to have no third-party benefit in terms of reduced transmission, yet they were mandated – both by political and societal pressure,” said Dr. Abraham in a statement in February. “This was a violation of personal autonomy that will take years to overcome.”
Hundreds of studies have shown that the Covid vaccines reduce the risk of hospitalization and death. The vaccines also prevented transmission of the virus before the virus began to mutate significantly.
In January, he called on Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana and chairman of the Senate Health Committee, to confirm Mr. Kennedy as head of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Although Dr. Abraham described Senator Cassidy as his “friend” at the time, but the two have since publicly argued about vaccinations. Senator Cassidy, a gastroenterologist, is a strong supporter of vaccines and has expressed deep concerns about Mr. Kennedy’s stance on them. In February he criticized Dr. Abraham’s decision to stop conducting mass vaccination campaigns.
On Tuesday, Senator Cassidy said in a statement that he was looking forward to a productive relationship with Dr. Abraham is happy in his new role.
“I hope that both of us as physicians can continue to have science-based conversations about protecting children, including vaccinating children to prevent measles, whooping cough and hepatitis,” said Senator Cassidy.
Susan C. Beachy contributed reporting.
