Professor Diane Hoffmann has been sought after by multiple news outlets to advise on issues related to COVID-19 vaccination, including the allocation and distribution of vaccines and potential employer mandates.
Speaking to the Baltimore Sun on March 2, Professor Hoffmann spoke about the state’s attempt to increase vaccination rates using mass vaccination sites and the benefits and drawbacks of utilizing extensive eligibility checks in those locations. Professor Hoffmann explained: “They’re setting up these large vaccination programs because they are more efficient — you can get a lot more people through them than the smaller sites, and you can maximize your resources that way… There’s this trade-off in however you set up the system; the more you put on people administratively, that takes time, and is less efficient.”
In February, speaking to the Salisbury Daily Times (subscription required), Professor Hoffmann addresses proposed bills in the Maryland Legislature that would expand legal immunity for health care institutions and workers. Professor Hoffmann made clear that the expansion of immunity goes beyond the immunity in the state’s public safety statute that provides liability from civil or criminal liability “if the health care provider acts in good faith and under a catastrophic health emergency proclamation.” This provision, she said, was added to ensure that health care providers would follow the governor’s orders. The proposed legislation, she explained, goes beyond this, protecting health care providers whose actions are directly or indirectly related to COVID-19. This may increase legal arguments over what constitutes “direct or indirect.”
In December 2020, Professor Hoffmann also spoke to news outlets about the pressing concern of both employers and employees – whether employers can mandate vaccination against COVID-19 as a condition of continued employment. In an interview with WMAR, Professor Hoffmann spoke about issues of equitable allocation and the ability of employers to mandate vaccination. Speaking to the Baltimore Business Journal (subscription required) in the same month, Professor Hoffmann responded to the pressing question of “Can I require my employees to get vaccinated?” with a caveated “yes.” Professor Hoffmann noted that while such a mandate is neither entirely unprecedented nor strictly barred, employers may choose to wait until the vaccines are fully approved by the FDA before the vaccines are made a requirement of employment. She also shared similar insights with WYPR, noting that “only where it is job-related or is considered a business necessity can it be mandated.”