Missouri's war on public health shows extent of national rift: 'A dark age of politics has begun'

Republican Missouri state Sen. Mike Moon believes that COVID-19 vaccinations, especially among children, should cease until the long-term effects are known. He points to the research of sources of COVID misinformation like America’s Frontline Doctors and Dr. Robert Malone, a guest on Joe Rogan’s podcast. He himself is not vaccinated.

So, on Feb. 1, he and other senators tanked the nomination of Donald Kauerauf to become the state’s next health director. Kauerauf had held the office in an interim capacity since September and professed on the record that he was anti-abortion and anti-mandate for masks and vaccinations, all while being nominated by a Republican governor who is also anti-mandate. But it wasn’t enough for Moon.

“Missourians don’t want to be ruled with an iron fist,” Moon said.

Missouri's kerfuffle is one more example of political pushback to public health leadership. A KHN and Associated Press investigation last year found that at least 1 in 5 Americans lived in places that had lost their top local public health official amid a wave of threats to the profession and chronic stress that led to firings, resignations, and retirements since the pandemic began. Such blows endanger the public health system’s ability to respond to other issues in the future, public health officials said.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/government-politics-issues/2022-02-10/missouris-war-on-public-health-shows-extent-of-national-rift-a-dark-age-of-politics-has-begun