BATON ROUGE — The Advocate reported Wednesday that the nation's health secretary had selected a vaccine skeptic from Baton Rouge to serve on a panel that develops vaccination policies for the federal government.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic himself, in June asked all 17 members of the civilian Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to resign and said he would replace them with people who hold no preconceived notions.

Dr. Evelyn Griffin of Baton Rouge appeared at a Central church last year and said she was "very, very skeptical" of the COVID-19 vaccines, which are credited with saving millions of lives. The newspaper said the doctor was not available for comment.

The civilian committee, which makes recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is scheduled to meet Thursday.

Griffin is an obstetrician and gynecologist who has practiced in Baton Rouge for about 20 years. The newspaper reported that, in 2022, she appeared before the state House Committee on Health and Welfare and said she had seen patients with "bizarre and rare conditions" that she was unable to blame on either the vaccines or COVID-19.

Testifying in favor of an anti-COVID-vaccine bill, she said “The average doctor is not asking questions, such as, could this be an aftereffect of the vaccine? And not asking these questions is scary as well as not scientific.”

She also said that hospitals had interfered with her work for fear of creating vaccine hesitancy.

For decades, public health units have promoted vaccinations in an effort to keep the entire population safe. Diminished vaccination rates have led to increases in illnesses that had been rare, including a measles outbreak in Texas this year.