Location: Online - Register for webinar below
With vaccines against COVID-19 widely available in the U.S., colleges and universities face a profound question -- should they require vaccination for their students and employees? This webinar brings together top experts from multiple disciplines and different points of view. They will debate the ethical, legal, and policy issues raised by COVID vaccine mandates. Reflecting on the history of public health and realities of the COVID-19 pandemic, they will consider the effectiveness of mandates in advancing community health, the legal basis, and the impact on equity and trust.
In this highly interactive webinar, panelists will discuss the issues, debate solutions, and respond to audience questions.
Resources:
- "Mandatory SARS-CoV-2 Vaccinations in K-12 Schools, Colleges/Universities, and Businesses," Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)
- "Counterpoint: Vaccine mandate at U would be counterproductive," Star Tribune
- "Intelligence Squared debate: Can employers and schools require vaccines?" Minnesota Public Radio
- "A new national model? Barbershop offers coronavirus shots in addition to cuts and shaves," Washington Post
Panelists are:
Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH
Director, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP)
University of Minnesota
Bio: Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH, is Regents Professor, McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health, and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota. He is a global authority on infectious disease and public health and member of the National Academy of Medicine as well as the Council on Foreign Relations. From June 2018 through May 2019, he served as Science Envoy for Health Security for the U.S. Department of State. In November 2020, Dr. Osterholm was appointed to President-elect Joe Biden's 13-member Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board. He is a frequent consultant to the World Health Organization, National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration, Department of Defense, and CDC.
Stephen B. Thomas, PhD
Director, Center for Health Equity
University of Maryland
Bio: Stephen B. Thomas, PhD, is Professor of Health Policy & Management, University of Maryland; Director of the Maryland Center for Health Equity; and Principal Investigator (with Dr. Sandra Quinn) for the NIH-NIMHD Center of Excellence in Race, Ethnicity & Health Disparities Research. One of the nation's leading scholars in the effort to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities, Dr. Thomas has applied his expertise to address a variety of conditions from which minorities generally face far poorer outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and HIV/AIDS. Dr. Thomas has received numerous awards for his professional accomplishments, and over the years, his work has become recognized as one of the scholarly contributions leading to the 1997 Presidential Apology to Survivors of the Syphilis Study Done at Tuskegee. His current research focuses on the translation of evidence-based science on chronic disease into community-based interventions designed to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care.
Lawrence O. Gostin, JD
Director, O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law
Georgetown University
Bio: Lawrence O. Gostin, JD, is University Professor, Linda D. & Timothy J. O’Neill Professor of Global Health Law, and Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University. He is also Professor of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. Prof. Gostin directs the O’Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law and the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law. He has been at the center of public policy and law through multiple epidemics from AIDS and SARS, to Ebola, MERS, and Zika. He currently works closely with the Biden administration and global institutions like WHO, the World Bank, and Gavi on the COVID-19 response. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a fellow of The Hastings Center.
Moderated by:
Susan M. Wolf, JD
Chair, Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences
University of Minnesota
Bio: Susan M. Wolf, JD, is Regents Professor; McKnight Presidential Professor of Law, Medicine & Public Policy; Faegre Baker Daniels Professor of Law; and Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota. She chairs the University’s Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences and serves as co-lead of the Minnesota COVID Ethics Collaborative (MCEC). Prof. Wolf is a member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), member of the American Law Institute, and fellow of The Hastings Center.