1000s weigh in on proposed public health rules, Shapiro continues to outraise Garrity, and the legislative races to watch. I'm Capitol reporter Stephen Caruso.
This is Access Harrisburg.
Healthy Debate
(Commonwealth Media Services)
STATE OFFICIALS ARE FACING A MOUNTAIN OF PAPER now that the deadline for public comment on a planned rewrite of the Department of Health’s vaccine and public health tracking rules has passed.
All told, the regulatory changes received between 5,000 and 10,000 submissions from interest groups, lawmakers, and citizens, according to David Sumner, executive director of the Independent Regulatory Review Commission. For context, the last rule change proposed by the department, a 2025 update to vision screening standards, received comment from just two groups — the rival optometrist and ophthalmologist lobbies.
But this 500-plus-page proposed regulatory rewrite hits at something that the average person may have a stronger opinion on ever since the COVID-19 pandemic — public health authority. The rules would expand the number of communicable diseases that medical practitioners must report to the Department of Health, quicken the timeline for reporting, affirm public health authorities' ability to contact trace and quarantine individuals, and align the state’s vaccine standards with the American Academy of Pediatrics instead of federal standards.
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