BATON ROUGE - On Thursday, Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham released new guidance regarding vaccines and the Department of Health. In a letter to employees issued that same day, Abraham called for an end to mass vaccination. Those in favor of vaccines fear this new guidance could hurt those with inconsistent access to healthcare.

In the letter from Abraham, he wrote COVID vaccines had no third-party benefits in terms of reduced transmission. Jennifer Herricks is the founder of Louisiana Families for Vaccines, an advocacy group, said there were falsehoods in that letter.

"It's blatantly false, they do [help]. Do they do that 100 percent? No. Can you still get sick? Yes. It's like the Flu vaccine, we get the Flu vaccine to reduce the chances of getting seriously ill," Herricks said.

Abraham said in the letter that vaccines should not be pushed by the government, saying it is a decision between a patient and doctor. In a letter obtained by WBRZ, Abraham wrote to LDH employees that the department would no longer promote mass vaccination. This means that events like community health fairs, media campaigns and efforts from parish health units to vaccinate would no longer be promoted.

"The fear is that those thousands who get their vaccines at those vaccination sites won't know where to go. Maybe they're relying on these sites because they don't have access to a family doctor," Herricks said.

Vaccines will still be stocked by parish health units, but the letter to employees states that people should speak with their healthcare provider about vaccines. Herricks said thousands could lose access to vaccinations which would hurt vulnerable populations and herd immunity.

"Currently there is a measles outbreak in West Texas which isn't that far away. The more we see our immunization rates drop, the more we worry about the children who are unvaccinated, whether they can be vaccinated or not," Herricks said.

With the letter coming on the heels of RFK Jr.'s confirmation as Secretary of Health and Human Services, Herricks said the future of health in the state is uncertain.

"RFK's confirmation is definitely a set back, but like I said before, it's not the final word on vaccine policy. What happened today with the Louisiana Department of health shows that the real fight is also at the state level," Herricks said.

To read Abraham's letter, click here.