BATON ROUGE — U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy said Friday that Louisiana's decision to roll back mass-vaccination events does a disservice to the people who need immunizations, particularly children.

Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham on Thursday had said the state would no longer support "community health fairs, partnerships and media campaigns" aimed at boosting or maintaining vaccination rates.

Both Abraham and Cassidy are medical doctors. Cassidy said Abraham's advice "ignores the reality of people's lives."

"Working parents suddenly realize their child needs to be immunized and they can't get in to see the doctor. It may be six weeks or longer for a routine visit. That is why as a doctor, I ran large-scale immunization programs to bring health care and immunizations to the patient,” Cassidy said.

“Things like vaccine fairs keep a child from having to miss school and a mother from having to miss work. That is the reality of today's medicine. To say that cannot occur and that someone must wait for the next available appointment ignores that reality," the senator said.

Cassidy, R-La., said that advertising where vaccines are available can help parents keep their children healthy.

"Removing these resources for parents is not a stand for parents' rights. It prevents making health care more convenient and available for people who are very busy," he said.

Cassidy's remarks came despite his recent votes to approve the appointment of vaccine-skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.