COVID-19 Episodes

Dr. Sameer Vorha, Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, is taking note of the disparities laid bare by COVID-19 in a new guest column written for the Chicago Sun-Times; Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, Vice President and Chief Health Equity...

Kinetra Joseph, Campaign Director for the CDC Foundation, says the Foundation’s Live to the Beat initiative has had a successful first year; Dr. Christopher King, Dean of the Georgetown University School of Health, spent much of his career studying...

Dr. Jim McDonald, New York State Acting Health Commissioner, says partnerships with people in local communities are key to the state's response to the opioid crisis; Siman Qaasim, Health Equity Administrator for the Arizona Department of Health...

Claire Pendergrast, ASTHO Senior Analyst for Health Improvement and Healthy Aging, has new research outlining five key strategies ASTHO members can use to promote healthy aging in their jurisdictions; Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist, created...

Ernia Hughes, Director of the Office of Health Center Investment Oversight with the Health Resources and Services Administration, says her organization hopes to boost COVID-19 vaccination rates with grants to more than 1,400 community health centers...

Julie Wernau, Health and Science Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, has been reporting on the opioid crisis for more than a year but says it’s still a difficult story to write; Andy Baker-White, ASTHO Senior Director of State Health Policy, says...

Carolyn Mullen, ASTHO Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Relations, is keeping an eye on the budget wrangling taking place on Capitol Hill; Ashley Cram, with ASTHO, explains how ASTHO members are working to help people in rural...

Dr. Christine Bean, Chief Learning Officer at the Association of Public Health Laboratories, talks about recruiting candidates into laboratory positions on ASTHO’s new jobs website, ; Dr. Nirav Shah, ASTHO Immediate Past President and Director of...

Dr. Nirav Shah, ASTHO Immediate Past President and Director of the Maine Center for Disease Control, reflects on his work in the state of Maine as he readies for his next job as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's number two in charge;...

Dr. Nancy Messonnier, Dean of the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, reflects on the COVID-19 pandemic with her unique perspective as a top CDC official at the time; Dr. John Wiesman, former Washington State...

Carolyn McCoy, ASTHO Senior Director of Federal Government Affairs, shares the good news that Congress has addressed Medicaid funding concerns that have plagued the U.S. territories for years; Dr. Jay Butler, former ASTHO President, is thinking about...

Dr. Marcus Plescia, ASTHO Chief Medical Officer, says public health agencies are increasing the focus on COVID-19 boosters for those living in nursing homes and other care settings; Alex Kearly, ASTHO's Director of Medicaid and Value Based Payment,...

Dr. Meredith Li-Vollmer, Risk Communication Manager for the Seattle and King County Public Health Department, says polling data helped agencies better understand community attitudes and opinions during the pandemic; Shalini Nair, ASTHO Senior Analyst...

Dr. Kimberly Martin, a President’s Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of California San Francisco, says black people likely avoid COVID-19 vaccines because of their distrust of the healthcare system; Antonnette Merur, Chief of Nursing for the...

Mike Fraser, ASTHO CEO, discusses the purpose of the organization’s annual legislative series which identifies the top 10 public health issues to watch in the new year; Dr. Dan Edney, State Health Officer for the Mississippi State Department of...

Brent Ewig, Chief Policy and Government Relations Officer for the Association of Immunization Managers, marks the second anniversary of COVID-19 vaccines this week; Jamie Pina, ASTHO Vice President of Public Health Data Modernization, says states and territories are taking action to...

Claire Pendergrast, ASTHO Senior Analyst for Health Improvement and Healthy Aging, discusses a survey of healthy aging policy actions enacted across the states and territories; Dr. LeQuandra Nesbitt, former Director of the District of Columbia...

In a special episode of the newscast, Dr. Marcus Plescia, ASTHO’s Chief Medical Officer, explains the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices decision earlier this week. The committee voted Thursday to add pediatric COVID-19 vaccines to...

Jeffrey Ekoma, ASTHO’s Senior Director of Government Affairs, says oversight of COVID-19 spending might increase if midterm elections lead to change in U.S. House leadership ; Heidi Westermann, ASTHO’s Director of Public Health Systems and...

Chrissie Juliano, Executive Director of the Big Cities Health Coalition, is joined by local public health directors to discuss public interest in the new COVID-19 booster; ASTHO is working with the National Community Action Partnership and five...

Dr. Sameer Vohra, Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, explains how he is working to convince more people to get the new COVID-19 booster shot; ASTHO CEO Mike Fraser attends a White House Summit on Indoor Air Quality; Priya Shah, an...

Dr. Leandro Mena, Director of the Division of STD Prevention at the CDC, discusses the latest preliminary data that counts 2.5 million reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis last year; Reyna Olaguez, Executive Director of South Kern Sol,...

Dr. Steven Stack, ASTHO President-Elect, discusses the new COVID-19 booster designed to protect against the latest variants; Dr. Anne Zink, ASTHO President, explains the need to bring health care and public health closer together in an ASTHO blog...

Dr. Steven Stack, Commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, and new ASTHO President-Elect, discusses the role and the pandemic’s impact on public health; Chris Taylor, ASTHO’s Director of Infectious Disease Outbreak Response and...