It is especially surprising that one of the first federal agencies to come under scrutiny from the incoming administration is one that has returned billions of dollars to many of the same consumers who were counting on leaders in Washington to look out for their wallets.

Louisiana's vaccine rates for Covid-19 and flu are markedly lower than national vaccination rates, CDC data shows.

A group of high-level managers at the Louisiana Department of Health walked into a Nov. 14 meeting in Baton Rouge expecting to talk about outreach and community events. Instead, they were told by an assistant secretary in the department and another official that department leadership had a new policy: Advertising or otherwise promoting the COVID,

State health officials say that Louisiana residents should decide for themselves whether to get vaccinated, especially for COVID-19 and influenza, breaking with broad vaccination campaigns at the agency in recent years and drawing rebukes from New Orleans officials and health experts.

While the Louisiana Department of Health is reportedly ordering its employees not to promote flu vaccination events or encourage Louisiana residents to get vaccinated, the city of New Orleans’s health department is taking the opposite tact.