We FINALLY have a Surgeon General confirmed. We have a REAL nationwide public health and education crisis going on here--both an immediate one (measles outbreak spreading fast) as well as a long-term one (#Antivaxxer nonsense, spreading even faster).
Yet I haven't heard a peep from Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, the newly-confirmed Surgeon General, as of yet. Has anyone else?
He should be EVERYWHERE right now--TV appearances, radio interviews, the works.
Yet, so far, unless I've missed something...nothing. Take a look at the home page of http://surgeongeneral.gov. Notice anything missing?
Don't get me wrong; Ebola is still a Thing, I suppose, and yes, cigarette smoking and skin cancer are still worth educating people about.
Yet, the only reference of any sort to vaccines is about the flu vaccine. And again, yes, that's important as well, but there's a slightly more pressing matter at the moment...
UPDATE:
Kevin Griffis is apparently an HHS Senior Advisor, so this is heartening.
UPDATE x2: OK, this update is long overdue. Various commenters have noted that Dr. Murthy is currently on a cross-country "listening tour" and is indeed discussing the importance of vaccinations, etc:
On communicable diseases and immunizations:
Dr. Murthy's visit comes amid one of the nation's worst measles outbreak. A disease he said is completely preventable. "One of my goals is to ensure we are doing better when it comes to vaccine-preventable illnesses. I want to speak to those who have concerns. Many people are worried about the side-effects. I understand that, but vaccines the benefits outweigh the benefits," Dr. Murthy said. "A couple of generations ago, when we had many more cases of measles and other illnesses, people understood just how important it was to get vaccinated. They saw first-hand the consequences of not getting vaccinated. As a result of the successes we've had over the last several decades with vaccinations, we haven't seen that, and I'm concerned that the threat of not getting vaccinated has become more theoretical than real. It's real. I think the outbreaks we are seeing now demonstrates that not getting vaccinated has harmful consequences for our population."
The other day he was in Kansas City:
At a meeting Thursday at the University of Kansas Medical Center with community leaders, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy urged parents to vaccinate their children.
“I understand there are concerns,” he said. “Every parent wants to protect his child.”
But there is no link between measles vaccine and autism, Murthy said. “Not everyone has gotten that message.”
And
here's a video clip (no embedding allowed) of him discussing the measles/vaccination issue the other day.
So, good for him, glad to hear it...but what I really meant was hitting the national talk shows (GMA, Today Show, the View, whatever...in fact, The View would probably be the target demographic for the left-leaning antivax crowd, I would think?)