C|M|LAW Library Blog

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech  COVID-19 vaccines.  The FDA is now authorizing use of these two vaccines in individuals 6 months of age and older.  The FDA “determined that the known and potential benefits of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines outweigh the known and potential risks in the pediatric populations authorized for use for each vaccine.”  The FDA also convened its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee to “help the public have a clear understanding of the safety and effectiveness data supporting the authorization of these two vaccines for pediatric populations.”  At its June 14-15, 2022 meeting, the Advisory Committee discussed, and voted in support of, the amended EUA for these two vaccines.  “As part of their original EUA requests, both ModernaTX Inc. and Pfizer Inc. submitted plans to continue to monitor the safety of the vaccines as they are used under EUA,” and these plans “have been updated to include the newly authorized populations.”  The FDA and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also “have several systems in place to continually monitor COVID-19 vaccine safety and allow for the timely detection and investigation of potential safety concerns.”

Dean Browne Lewis passed away on June 2 while attending the Health Law Professors Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.  She became the Dean of the North Carolina Central University School of Law on July 1, 2020.  Previously, she was the Leon M. and Gloria Plevin Professor of Law at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and the founding Director of the C|M|LAW Center for Health Law and Policy.  She also served as a faculty adviser to the C|M|Law Black Law Students Association, Thurgood Marshall Moot Court Team, and Journal of Law and Health.  Dean Lewis was a prolific writer in bioethics, environmental law, and family and inheritance law, authoring numerous articles and several books.  An accomplished scholar, she was a Visiting Researcher at the Brocher Foundation in Geneva; a Visiting Scholar at the University of Texas Institute for Medical Humanities, The Hastings Center, and the Yale University Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics; as well as a Senior Fulbright Specialist at Haifa University and Hebrew University in Israel and a Core Fulbright Scholar at King’s College in London.  Dean Lewis is particularly remembered for her passion for social justice.  In a recent Attorney At Law Magazine interview, she stated “The key value I want to imprint on the law school is overcoming the impossible through hard work, perseverance, and tenacity.  It is important to overcome adversity and realize that you can accomplish any goal even if you do it in bite-sized pieces.”  RIP Browne Lewis.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 website continues to provide extensive data and guidance on COVID-19 evidence-based scientific findings, disease occurrence, disease management, and public health issues. The Your Health page includes links to information on Community Levels (ie, Low, Medium, High) and COVID-19 Prevention, as well as When to quarantine and isolate.  The Science page includes Science Briefs – summaries of “scientific evidence used to inform specific CDC guidance and recommendations” – and updates on Variant Surveillance.  The Vaccines page provides information on different vaccines and their administration.  The Cases & Data page includes daily updates of cases, deaths, hospitalizations, and vaccinations, as well as a daily updated Integrated County View page where one can monitor COVID-19 occurrence by county in the United States.  The Work & School page includes guidance and strategies for specific locations, such as Schools, Child Care, and Higher Education and Retirement & Shared Housing.  For additional information and guidance, see the CDC COVID-19 website.

U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle just issued an opinion that the federal mask mandate on planes, trains, buses and other modes of public transportation is “unlawful.”  The 59 page opinion states the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had exceeded its authority and failed to follow proper rulemaking procedures.  Mizelle opined, the mandate violates the Administrative Procedure Act.

In response the Transportation and Safety Administration announced that it will no longer enforce the mask mandate on public transportation.  A number of transportation related businesses including airlines and Uber have followed suit in stating they will no longer require masks.

The Biden administration recently launched a new COVID.gov website.  Designed as a “one stop shop,” the website provides links to information on masks, treatments (including a test-to-treatment location-finding tool), vaccines, at-home tests and how to order free tests, symptoms and care, and travel guidance.  Most of the links go to different sections of the COVID-19 website provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  While packed with comprehensive information, the CDC COVID-19 website can be challenging to navigate.  The new COVID.gov website is extremely easy to navigate, and one can view it in English, Spanish, or Chinese (PRC) languages.