Establishing the COVID-19 Pandemic Testing Board and Ensuring a Sustainable Public Health Workforce for COVID-19 and Other Biological Threats
Creates COVID-19 Testing Board and National Public Health Workforce
What it does
Agencies must establish a Testing Board, expand testing access and capacity, and develop a national public health workforce plan including a U.S. Public Health Job Corps.
Real-world impact
- Expands free testing for people without comprehensive health insurance.
- Creates a Public Health Job Corps to train contact tracers and vaccinators.
- Increases federal support for testing in schools and high-risk settings.
Topics
Summary
This order creates a national COVID-19 Pandemic Testing Board to coordinate testing strategy, expand test supply and manufacturing, enhance laboratory capacity, and improve public messaging about tests.
It directs federal officials to expand free testing for people without comprehensive health insurance, support screening in schools and other priority settings, and develop a national public health workforce plan. The plan must propose a U.S. Public Health Job Corps to train contact tracers, assist vaccination outreach, and support testing in high-risk communities.
Questions, answered
Ask questions about this executive order and its implications. Try:
- “What agencies are affected by this order?”
- “How does this order change existing policy?”
- “What are the practical implications of this order?”