The Louisiana Department of Health will no longer promote mass vaccination, the state’s surgeon general, Dr. Ralph Abraham, told state health workers Thursday.

Five years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, public weariness and irresponsible politics are hampering an effective response to global infectious-disease outbreaks.

Louisiana students lead the nation in recovering from pandemic learning loss in reading and have made the second biggest recovery in math, according to a new report that found Louisiana is the only state where the average student has returned to pre-pandemic achievement levels.