On this week’s podcast, the National Association of County and City Health Officials’ Adriane Casalotti, Chief of Government and Public Affairs, and Lauren Mastroberardino, Government Affairs Senior Specialist, provided an outlook on government funding as August recess has ended and Congress is back in session. They spoke about the possibility of a government shutdown or continuing resolution as the fiscal year ends on September 30. Also, Casalotti and Mastroberardino discussed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsement of updated COVID-19 vaccine formulations that will be available as rates of respiratory infections increase this fall. 

Later in the program (8:13), NACCHO Communications Specialist Beth Hess spoke with Deb Kramer, Deputy Assistant Secretary and Director of the Office of Preparedness within the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. During this, National Preparedness Month, they discussed the importance of preparedness both nationally and locally. Kramer also talked about the role of the Medical Reserve Corps in community response, its impact over the past 21 years, and her vision for the program moving forward.