Missouri’s top health official, a Republican who opposes mask and vaccine mandates but spoke approvingly of the Covid vaccine, was supposed to have been confirmed by State Senate by Friday.
Instead, conservative state legislators stonewalled the process earlier this week and Donald Kauerauf resigned on Tuesday, becoming the latest public health leader to be forced from office, as the politicized fight about masks, mandates and pandemic response rages on.
Mr. Kaeurauf had been appointed by Gov. Mike Parsons, a Republican, in July to lead the state’s Department of Health and Senior Services and had served in the position since September.
At a Monday hearing, Mr. Kaeurauf emphasized his opposition to mandatory masking and vaccination, but repeated his desire to see improvement in Missouri’s sluggish vaccination rate. Only about half of the state’s population has received two doses.
Mr. Kaeurauf’s statements in favor of vaccinations were apparently enough to doom his confirmation in the Republican-controlled Missouri Senate. The chamber adjourned on Tuesday, opting not to act before the Friday deadline.
Mr. Kaeurauf is just the latest public health leader to be punished for expressing support for vaccines.
Dr. Raul Pino, who leads the Florida Department of Health’s office in Orange County, was placed on administrative leave last month after urging employees to get the shot. In an email, he called the office’s vaccination rate “pathetic.” Florida’s Health Department is investigating whether Mr. Pino’s conduct ran afoul of state laws.
In Nashville, Dr. Michelle Fiscus said she was fired last year after she distributed a memo suggesting some teenagers could be eligible to get vaccinated without parental consent. Ms. Fiscus, then Tennessee’s top immunization leader, said her termination followed outcry from Republican lawmakers in Tennessee.
In the months since her firing, Dr. Fiscus said the security of public health officials has continued to devolve because “the legislative body is continuing to sink its fingers into the practice of medicine.”
“As a former public health official, it’s really disturbing to continue to see this trend,” she said.
Late last year, The New York Times identified more than 500 top health officials who left their jobs in the prior 19 months. They have drawn ire from state leaders and the public for their decisions, and faced other hurdles including mass staff departures, inconsistent funding and dwindling trust in their authority.
Adriane Casalotti, chief of government and public affairs for the National Association of County and City Health Officials, said that the fallout from the departures will have an impact that lasts beyond this pandemic and will leave the country less prepared for the next public health crisis.
“What we want out of our public health leaders is to tell us the truth whether or not it’s politically popular,” Ms. Casalotti said. “We’re going to lose those voices and those are the voices that we need to keep our communities safe and secure.”
Some officials, like Mr. Kaeurauf, have become targets of conservatives bristling about testing requirements in schools and encouragement to wear masks. At a Monday hearing in Missouri a day before Mr. Kaeurauf’s resignation, protesters lofted posters with messages such as “we’re not guinea pigs” and “God-given natural immunity.” The State Senate’s Conservative Caucus posted a message of support for the protesters on social media, thanking them for making their “voices heard” and urging them to “keep up the good fight.”
Senator Rick Brattin, a member of the caucus, said in an interview on Wednesday that he did not believe that Mr. Kaeurauf was being “forthright” during his hearing.
Governor Parsons said in a statement on Tuesday that “the Missouri Senate chose to indulge a few men’s egos” and to prioritize political gain. The senators had listened to rumors and lies about Mr. Kaeurauf spread on social media, he added.
“The events that have transpired over the past few days surrounding Don’s Senate confirmation hearing are nothing short of disgraceful, unquestionably wrong, and an embarrassment to this state and the people we serve,” the governor said. “I pray that honor, integrity and order can be returned to the Missouri Senate and that it comes sooner rather than later.”
