Meeting of the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force

AGENCY:

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Office of the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION:

Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY:

As required by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is hereby giving notice that the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force (Task Force) will hold a virtual meeting on July 30, 2021. The purpose of this meeting is to consider interim recommendations addressing future pandemic preparedness, mitigation, and resilience needed to ensure equitable response and recovery in communities of color and other underserved populations. This meeting is open to the public and will be live-streamed at www.hhs.gov/live. Information about the meeting will be posted on the HHS Office of Minority Health website: www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/healthequitytaskforce/ prior to the meeting.

DATES:

The Task Force meeting will be held on Friday, July 30, 2021, from 2 p.m. to approximately 6 p.m. ET (date and time are tentative and subject to change). The confirmed time and agenda will be posted on the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force web page: www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/healthequitytaskforce/ when this information becomes available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Samuel Wu, Designated Federal Officer for the Task Force; Office of Minority Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Tower Building, 1101 Wootton Parkway, Suite 100, Rockville, Maryland 20852. Phone: 240-453-6173; email: COVID19HETF@hhs.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background: The COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force (Task Force) was established by Executive Order 13995, dated January 21, 2021. The Task Force is tasked with providing specific recommendations to the President, through the Coordinator of the COVID-19 Response and Counselor to the President (COVID-19 Response Coordinator), for mitigating the health inequities caused or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and for preventing such inequities in the future. The Task Force shall submit a final report to the COVID-19 Response Coordinator addressing any ongoing health inequities faced by COVID-19 survivors that may merit a public health response, describing the factors that contributed to disparities in COVID-19 outcomes, and recommending actions to combat such disparities in future pandemic responses.

The meeting is open to the public and will be live-streamed at www.hhs.gov/live. No registration is required. A public comment session will be held during the meeting. Pre-registration is required to provide public comment during the meeting. To pre-register, please send an email to COVID19HETF@hhs.gov and include your name, title, and organization by close of business on Friday, July 23, 2021. Comments will be limited to no more than three minutes per speaker and should be pertinent to the meeting discussion. Individuals are encouraged to provide a written statement of any public comment(s) for accurate minute-taking purposes. If you decide you would like to provide public comment but do not pre-register, you may submit your written statement by emailing COVID19HETF@hhs.gov no later than close of business on Thursday, August 5, 2021. Individuals who plan to attend and need special assistance, such as sign language interpretation or other reasonable accommodations, should contact: COVID19HETF@hhs.gov and reference this meeting. Requests for special accommodations should be made at least 10 business days prior to the meeting.