DPH Commissioner Auerbach WANTS All to Be Vaccinated ...

... but he is hesitating because of "ethical, legal and practical issues." Under new "emergency" regulations passed in August by the Public Health Council (under Auerbach's leadership), all health facility employees in Massachusetts are being told to get both the H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines, but will be allowed to opt out:


"Mandatory programs raise serious ethical, legal and practical issues because of the coercive nature of such programs, potential liability concerns, and the potential damage to workplace relationships when cooperation is most needed to address a possible pandemic."   

-- this from Commissioner Auerbach's letter dated August 12. (See letter here).

While the Department of Public Health is now making an effort to appear respectful of individual rights, it could always revise its regulations at any time regarding whether a vaccine is recommended or mandated. Auerbach's letter makes it clear that he thinks the Public Health Council has the authority to debate and decide this issue. The agency's ability to call on emergency powers is worrisome.  And there is an open-ended statute already on the books in Massachusetts authorizing local health boards to mandate vaccinations (for unnamed disease). The DPH is in charge of local health boards.

So for now, the DPH is ordering health facility workers to be vaccinated for both H1N1 and seasonal flu, but allowing them to sign a refusal -- which goes into their personnel file. (If the DPH has the power to grant the right to opt out, it can also take it away!) How long until either the state or the facility goes to the next level of control: A person can’t work there unless he’s taken the vaccine? Health facilities now are required to report to the DPH how many of their employees get the vaccine (and will be ranked accordingly by the state bureaucrats), increasing pressure ("incentive") on the facility to mandate vaccination for employees. So how long will it be until the Dept. of Public Health orders hospitals to bar anyone who refuses a recommended/required vaccine, as they now do in schools, universities and the military?




There are many well informed medical professionals who will opt out of this mass vaccination for H1N1. (One report suggests as many as half may refuse the shot.) So the DPH is probably not so much sensitive to civil rights issues as concerned that they’d have a rebellion on their hands among health professionals if they try to enforce a mandatory vaccination program (the "legal and practical issues" noted by Auerbach).

Auerbach noted after his emergency regulations passed that he really wants everyone to be vaccinated:

New England Cable News Video: Dept of Public Health planning ‘mass vaccinations’ (8-12-09, our transcript)

NECN reporter Brad Puffer: The state Department of Public Health is hoping to vaccinate twice as many people as they did  last year; they’re hoping to vaccinate half the population for the H1N1 virus. And that will be a huge task, one that will require new regulations. The Mass Public Health Council approved emergency regulations weds that will require all health care workers across the state to be vaccinated for both H1N1 and seasonal flu. In addition, all health care workers would be permitted to administer the vaccine, including pharmacists, dentists, and paramedics. [school clinics may be opened.] ... The state is preparing to administer up to 9 million doses this year. Schoolchildren will be targeted... But each H1N1 vaccine will require two shots. Seasonal flu would be yet another shot. ... The risks have been minimal, especially for healthy children. But they will be watching it closely, especially as both seasonal flu and H1N1 spread at the same time, making some in the population more vulnerable to complications. 

Auerbach: “We can avoid that if people are vaccinated, both for seasonal flu and for H1N1, and we really want to try to do that.”

So don't worry. It's only a rumor that our government is moving towards mandatory vaccinations.

DPH commissioner seeks to dispel mandatory vaccination rumors (9-2-09) 

Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach issued a statement today to dispel rumors about mandatory vaccination for the so-called swine flu virus.

“The Department of Public Health will not call for or authorize mandatory vaccination against the pandemic flu,” Auerbach wrote in a memo sent to legislators and local officials. “There are no public health officials on the state, national, or global level calling for forced vaccination for H1N1.... The Department of Public Health has been functioning in a transparent manner and actively communicating about H1N1 planning, holding dozens of hours of conference calls with key stakeholders and engaging the media to keep the residents of Massachusetts informed. We are eager to offer the H1N1 vaccine to those most at risk who choose to be vaccinated when it becomes available in mid-October. Mandatory vaccination is not and has never been part of the plan or discussion in Massachusetts’ pandemic response.” 





Note that in 2007, Auerbach testified for a bill mandating children be vaccinated for “all recommended vaccines” -- the list of which grows and grows, despite the strong evidence that autism, ADD, and other health problems are directly linked to the mercury and aluminum containing vaccines. 

WHO IS JOHN AUERBACH? Is he qualified to be Commissioner of Public Health?

The Massachusetts Commissioner of the Department of Public Health would hold enormous power if Bill S2028 (pandemic disaster preparation) is passed. He already has the power to define what diseases are a danger to public health and subject to vaccination requirements, isolation and quarantine orders. One would think that someone with a medical degree (preferably along with a public health expertise) would have the job of Commissioner.

Well, this is Massachusetts. Our Commissioner has a BA from Clark University and an MBA (with a concentration in health care administration) from Boston University School of Management. But no medical background. But he's been a factory worker, a labor organizer, and head of the DPH HIV/AIDS office. 

(An example of Auerbach's contribution to public health is The Little Black Book: Queer in the 21st Century, a homo-erotic how-to for young men, including a directory of gay bars in Boston. Published by the AIDS Action Committee of Mass., it thanked two governmental groups he ran or worked with for their help: The Boston Public Health Commission and the DPH.)


Auerbach has pledged his support for the homosexual and transgender propaganda in the Massachusetts public schools. MassResistance reported in December 2008:
Commissioner Auerbach replied that he wants to advance "transgender health" while they have the opportunity. He applauded the commission's [on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth] attention to trans health and said "We will listen to your recommendations." Gunner Scott (a woman GLBT Commissioner with a beard and sideburns) stated that she wants the DPH to consider trans people for leadership roles within DPH. Auerbach agreed.... Gunner added that she wants the terms "gender identification" and "gender expression" used in the DPH policies. Auerbach agreed, and said they'll make sure that this happens. 

The Harvard Medical School's Office for Diversity and Community Partnership gave him a "social justice" award in 2008 and noted:

As Commissioner, he heads a Department with 3,100 employees that includes four public health hospitals, the State Laboratory, several regulatory bodies, and numerous programmatic units addressing chronic and infectious disease, substance abuse, environmental health, tobacco control, children and adolescent health, and emergency preparedness. He is the Chair of the Public Health Council, the State’s Health Policy Board, and a member of the Governor’s Anti-Crime Council. 

The Boston Globe reported: 

He had gained national prominence in public health circles by championing sometimes-controversial causes such as banning smoking in bars and restaurants and, more recently, reviewing whether the city should ban trans-fats from restaurants and bakeries. Auerbach also directed a groundbreaking campaign to address ethnic and racial disparities in healthcare, which his boss, Mayor Thomas M. Menino, declared as the most pressing medical issue in the city.
Auerbach's appointment arrives a week after Patrick announced a $72 million increase in public health spending, with the money being used to expand childhood vaccinations and disease-prevention campaigns.

From the DPH web site:

Commissioner John Auerbach, DPH
How did you get into this field?
My first job in public health was working in the community health center in my neighborhood in Dorchester. I was so impressed with the incredible work that was being done at the center that I wanted to stay in the field.


Who would you consider to be your mentor and why?
I have had a few wonderful mentors. I am most indebted to David Mulligan, the former commissioner of Public Health in Massachusetts, for whom I worked in one capacity or another for almost 20 years. I had the benefit of observing firsthand his brilliant strategic thinking and his skillful, compassionate leadership style. Another invaluable mentor was Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, with his unique combination of first-rate political acumen, heart-felt concern for the most vulnerable and very effective leadership ability.

What quote do you live by?

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. (Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963)

What has been the most memorable moment of your career?

Certainly one of the most memorable occurred when I was the Executive Director of the Boston Public Health Commission. After many months of collaborative planning, a coalition unveiled the set of action steps to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health. Initially it seemed unrealistic to think that a city health department could have an impact on such a major problem — which involved many other factors outside of the control of our department such as jobs, housing and schools. Yet many people and organizations were prepared to contribute to taking concerted action — redirecting millions of dollars, supporting scores of contracts and training thouands of people. It was inspiring to see the support for such a worthwhile effort.

Can you share an interesting fact about yourself that your colleagues wouldn’t necessarily know?

My first job after college was as a labor organizer in a shoe factory in the Boston area. As such, I worked on an assembly line for years and came to understand first hand the unsafe working conditions and low salaries that the workers endured — as well as the positive results that were possible under the right set of circumstances. The lessons and skills that I learned from these years have been invaluable in my work in public health.

Is there anything you’d like people to know about your agency?

Much of the work of the Department is unheralded because it involves prevention and the minimization of health risk — something that is difficult to quantify. The work of our dedicated staff results in the avoidance of disease and premature death and the guarantee that air, water and food are safe. The Department has hundreds of unsung heroes.

DPH Commissioner Auerbach's Testimony on S2028 Pandemic Bill

Who wrote the Pandemic bill S2028? DPH Commissioner John Auerbach answered this at the March 26 hearing on the bill (then S18).

As we noted, Senator Richard Moore, chief sponsor of the civil-liberties-defying pandemic preparation bill S2028, referred to it as the "pandemic flu bill" at the beginning of the March 26 hearing.

In typical non-transparent Massachusetts Legislature fashion, the hearing came with little fanfare. The hoi polloi have to be kept in the dark anytime their individual freedoms are threatened. Notably, no citizens opposing the bill were present -- since few knew of the bill or the hearing at that time. (Fortunately, CatchoftheDay Video News was there to record it.) 

But the big guy, Department of Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach, was there, speaking in support of the bill for his department and the other medical establishment organizations that (he explained) worked together to draft it: the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Massachusetts Hospital Association, the Medical Reserve Corps of Massachusetts, and the Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals. Auerbach said that "virtually everyone is in favor of" the bill. He said it's a "critical piece of the Commonwealth's preparations in case of a pandemic outbreak or other critical emergencies" (unspecified).

Clearly the medical establishment has a very different outlook on this bill from the general populace. Besides their close ties to Big Pharma and vaccination dogma, S2028 shows they are very concerned with the liability issues of offering emergency treatment "outside standard clinical practice" -- and illnesses resulting from the dangerous vaccines they plan to administer. 

The majority of the people seem to have awakened to the dangers of vaccines, and no longer trust any level of government -- or even the professional elites. Too bad they weren't able to make it to the March 26 hearing.

HIV/AIDS Exempted from Pandemic Control Bill H2028

The pandemic emergency bill S2028 makes an exception for one specific disease, HIV/AIDS, from isolation and quarantine strategies. See lines 456-458:

In this section [re: isolation and quarantine], “disease or condition dangerous to the public  health” does not include acquired  immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) or the human  immunodeficiency virus (HIV). 

While it doesn’t make sense to forcibly isolate or quarantine HIV/AIDS carriers, why not employ some of the other strategies enumerated in this bill to contain disease, such as:

- mandatory testing for the disease (lines 423-424).

- entry into premises (without warrant), where it’s suspected the disease is being communicated to others, and closing the premises or forbidding “assemblages of persons” there (lines 78-84 and 351-367).

After all, AIDS activists are always saying more needs to be done to combat the “epidemic”.

Well, our Department of Public Health would never do that, as it would “stigmatize” people with HIV/AIDS. How how could the state possibly condone targeting of gay bars, houses of prostitution, or drug dens where the disease is clearly spread? That would be an outrage on the scale of Stonewall! It would be interfering with freedom of choice and expression! How could it possibly recommend HIV/AIDS testing -- even before the “marriage” of two men? (In fact, the DPH under Governor Romney eliminated all STD testing before marriage. See Ch. 388 of Acts of 2004.)

The DPH believes it’s enough to push condom use and frequent HIV testing. 

Is it just a coincidence that our Commissioner of Public Health, John Auerbach, is openly homosexual and “married” to another man?

What is truly frightening is the amount of power the DPH Commissioner would hold in time of a declared health emergency if S2028 is passed.  

For more on Commissioner Auerbach, see:

Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health funding homosexual / transgender movement in schools

United Way and Mass. DPH Fund "Transwomen" Handing Out Condoms & Lube

Auerbach at Youth Pride 2007: HIV testing available

New Massachusetts Dept of Public Health Commissioner Is “Married” Homosexual