Leila Barraza

Wayne County Michigan, which encompasses the City of Detroit, has a large population of residents of color and also faces some of the state’s most significant challenges. Recently, the county has taken significant measures to address acknowledged disparities in health outcomes, creating Regional Health Equity Advisory Councils, a Black Leadership Council, and committing $300 million to support more than 100 programs to further positive, systemic change.

The first state law requiring vaccines for children entering school was passed in 1855 in Massachusetts as a response to a deadly outbreak of smallpox. By 1963, twenty states had joined Massachusetts in requiring vaccines for school entry. Today, all 50 states and the District of Columbia require vaccines for school entry, including those for MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella), DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis), polio, and varicella (chickenpox). For a single birth-year cohort (2009) of children, school entry vaccines were estimated to prevent 20 million cases of disease and 42,000 deaths.

Following the development and authorization of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines and boosters, the Biden administration enacted a series of vaccine mandates in 2021. The most significant of these mandates applied to (1) federal workers and contractors, (2) large employers, and (3) health care workers.

This fact sheet offers a broad-level overview of issues associated with the return to in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also serves as a starting point and initial resource for individuals seeking information on what actions can be taken to protect K–12 students, as well as school faculty and staff, from COVID-19 in a school setting.v

August is recognized as Immunization Awareness Month to acknowledge and create awareness of the significant life-saving impact vaccinations have had on the public’s health.  However, despite the fact that eradication of certain vaccine-preventable diseases and development of vaccines to prevent cancer are revolutionary achievements, current challenges continue to demonstrate that the importance of vaccination awareness cannot be understated.

This resource provides an overview of legislative and executive actions targeting school mask mandates and vaccine requirements.

Several universities across the U.S. have announced plans to require students to receive a COVID-19 vaccination before heading back to campus for the fall semester. Brown, Cornell, Duke, Northeastern, and Rutgers are among them. Some institutions of higher learning, like Virginia Tech, have determined that they cannot require vaccinations because of the vaccine’s Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) status, but this stance rests on shaky legal grounds.

In honor of Women's History Month, women in the Network’s Health Equity Working Group have highlighted legal or policy issues affecting women’s health that they see as critically important. The topics addressed cover: economic stability and well-being, pregnancy discrimination, period poverty, and maternal depression. The law and policy solutions discussed here have the potential to improve life for women and girls for generations to come.

Join Network attorneys as they highlight their top choices for pivotal, influential judicial decisions over the past year on topics including emergency legal preparedness, religious freedoms, reproductive rights, food insecurity, health justice, and the future of the ACA.

Speakers examine issues arising from devising equitable and efficient allocation plans, as well as the process used by agencies when considering recommending a vaccine.

Join the Network for an engaging real-time assessment and discussion of potential and projected legal and policy changes ahead on these and other core public health topics. Share your potential questions in advance during registration or during the live session.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created the challenge for states to provide safe conditions for individuals to vote in the upcoming Presidential election. In two southwestern states, public health executive orders (New Mexico) and legal challenges (Arizona) have been seen ahead of the upcoming election related to voting conditions and voter registrations.