Former Baltimore health official causes controversy by advocating for avian flu vaccination

A former Baltimore health official has sparked backlash after she asked Joe Biden to authorize bird flu vaccines before leaving office.

According to Dr. Leana Wen, who previously served as the Commissioner for Baltimore’s health department, she emphasized the urgency for President Biden to take action against the avian influenza outbreak before his term ends. She stressed the importance of implementing measures to combat the spread of the virus.

Dr. Wen, a public health professor at George Washington University, outlined two critical steps that should be taken promptly. Firstly, she highlighted the necessity of widespread testing to identify and control the virus effectively. Drawing from the lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic, she underscored the significance of comprehensive testing strategies.

In addition, Dr. Wen underscored that it is imperative for the Biden administration to expedite the process of obtaining FDA approval for the existing vaccine developed to counter the bird flu. Securing authorization for this vaccine is crucial in enhancing preparedness and response efforts to address the outbreak.

Wen said Biden should make the move ‘because we don’t know what the Trump administration will do about the bird flu’.

She added Trump has ‘people coming in with anti-vaccine stances’ and thus it’s possible that his White House could ‘hold up’ the vaccine authorization or ‘withhold testing.’

The H5N1 vaccine is already developed and contracted with manufacturers to make almost 5million doses, but awaits FDA approval.

‘There’s research done on it. They could get this authorized now, and also get the vaccine out to farm workers and to vulnerable people,’ Wen added.

Former Baltimore health commissioner Leana Wen has urged the Biden administration to approve the bird flu vaccine, which is already developed

Wen’s comments struck a nerve with many X users who recalled her asking Biden to implement vaccine mandates in federal workplaces and public venues in their jurisdiction during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The health policy expert controversially stated the unvaccinated should not be allowed to go out in public. 

One X user said: ‘Dr. Leana Wen pushed to take away fundamental human rights…why would anyone listen to her again? This should be entirely disqualifying.’

Another added: ‘Leana Wen is a politician, not a doctor. Her health advice should be completely ignored.’

However, many have also taken to social media to support Wen, with one user writing: ‘Disappointed to see Dr. Leana Wen being viciously attacked again for some reasonable comments about bird flu.’

Another X user said: ‘I am not an epidemiologist (but I have family and best friends who are) and they say it’s not if, but when. Since we now have RFK on the case you can find me gathering my quarantine supplies. Again.’

The bird flu virus has been causing sporadic, mostly mild illnesses in people in the US and nearly all of those infected worked on dairy or poultry farms.

A worker in a hazmat suit is pictured spraying a truck in a quarantine zone after an outbreak of bird flu (stock image)

The above map shows the number of people infected with bird flu by state in the US this year. California and Washington state have recorded the most cases. Louisiana was added today (not colored on the map), after recording its first case

A Louisiana resident was hospitalized with a severe case for the first time earlier this month. The H5N1 patient is in Louisiana, and investigators said they likely caught the disease after handling sick and dead birds in a backyard poultry flock.

In California, officials declared a state of emergency over the spread of bird flu, which is tearing through dairy cows in that state.

The virus, also known as Type A H5N1, was detected for the first time in US dairy cattle in March. Since then, bird flu has been confirmed in at least 866 herds in 16 states.

More than 60 people in eight states have been infected, with mostly mild illnesses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

One person in Louisiana has been hospitalized with the nation’s first known severe illness caused by the virus, health officials said this week.

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stressed again this week that the virus poses low risk to the general public.

Importantly, there are no reports of person-to-person transmission and no signs that the virus has changed to spread more easily among humans.