UPDATED: THERE you go: U.S. Surgeon General is everywhere this morning

Tue, 02/03/2015 - 3:33pm
Hat Tip To: 
Esther Ferington

UPDATE 2/4/15: And there we go:

New Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy: Measles vaccine is safe and effective

FEBRUARY 4, 2015, 8:02 AM|Dr. Vivek Murthy is making history as the first surgeon general of Indian descent and the youngest. Murthy joins "CBS This Morning" from Washington for his first on-camera interview since being confirmed as surgeon general and discusses the safety of the vaccine. He also touches on his views on the legalization of marijuana.

I strongly encourage parents to vaccinate their kids to protect them from #measles.- VM http://t.co/kVGRC9QoZX

— U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) February 4, 2015

UPDATE: 

@charles_gaba Be watching your tv tomorrow. Strong chance you'll see him

— Kevin Griffis (@KevinCGriffis) February 3, 2015

For what it's worth, Kevin Griffis' Twitter description states that he's an HHS Senior Adviser. Glad to hear it.

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?)

UPDATE x3: Hey, I've been picked up by Bloomberg News:

As Charles Gaba, a Michigan blogger best known for predicting Obamacare enrollments, noticed, something seemed to be missing from the Surgeon General's website amid all the news of a national measles outbreak and the commentary generated by a number of likely presidential candidates over their support of vaccination, in general. 

...But Murthy has been discussing vaccines, and other health concerns, through a series of sessions across the country. Starting late last month, the “Surgeon General House Call” tour (a.k.a. #SGHouseCalls) has taken Murthy throughout the South, where he has encouraged people to sign-up for Obamacare, discussed the key causes of obesity, and emphasized the importance of vaccines.

Original Post:

Huge Kudos to Esther F. for the obvious question.

The home page of the website is still focusing on Ebola, smoking prevention and skin cancer. Which, yes, are all still important, but there's a slightly more pressing matter at the moment...the only reference to "vaccines" on the home page is for the flu vaccine. The word "measles" appears absolutely nowhere.

Update

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