The second-highest ranking official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be Dr. Ralph Abraham, the head of Louisiana's health department.

This story was produced in partnership with KFF Health News .

He has questioned the safety of the COVID vaccine and forbidden his department from promoting vaccines to the public.

Abraham will join the agency as principal deputy director, according to an official for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services who was not authorized to speak to the media about a personnel matter.

A former Republican congressman and a physician with a practice in Richland Parish, Abraham has been a vocal supporter of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. , and shares some of his views on vaccines.

Abraham, 71, has called COVID vacc

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