Legislative Prospectus: Immunization
In-depth analysis on state health policy surrounding immunization. This is part of ASTHO's annual legislative prospectus series.
In-depth analysis on state health policy surrounding immunization. This is part of ASTHO's annual legislative prospectus series.
Under the Tenth Amendment, states have the power to protect the health and welfare of their populations, including the authority to implement isolation and quarantine orders to limit the spread of disease. This post is an examination of state public health authority for isolation and quarantine.
While communities transition from emergency response to long-term monitoring and recovery, the federal government and states are taking legislative action to improve emergency preparedness capabilities.
A mid-session legislative update on five of ASTHO's top 10 public health state policy issues to watch in 2023: data privacy and modernization, reproductive health, health equity, strengthening public health agencies, and immunization.
The 2020 holiday season is coinciding with a nationwide surge of COVID-19 cases. With great concern that holiday travel to see loved ones may exacerbate community spread of the virus, many states are increasing public health measures before the winter holiday season. As of November 16, 2020, 13 states and D.C. had a quarantine requirement for out-of-state travelers. The U.S. territories also have instituted travel restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Recap the state legislative sessions in 2025 thus far, spanning maternal health, infectious disease, and other important public health issues.
This report highlights lessons learned about how to remain resilient in the face of complex disasters and environmental events, following two listening sessions hosted by ASTHO and the Environmental Council of the States.
This report highlights examples of health department partnership coordination strategies to enhance surveillance, increase resource and staffing capacity, and improve communication and collaboration in order to strengthen infection prevention and control practices during the COVID-19 response.
As the number of COVID-19 vaccinations grows, some states are looking at their vaccination rates to determine when to loosen measures that mitigate the spread of COVID-19, such as venue capacity limits, business closure times, and masking requirements. As vaccinations allow businesses to reopen and customers to return, questions have arisen about whether venues or services—especially those that bring people in close contact for long periods of times—such as retail stores, concert venues, entertainment venues, air travel, cruise ships, etc., can require patrons or customers to verify that they received a COVID-19 vaccine. So far, state policy makers have had mixed views on the issue.