The ADA is asking the U.S. government to grant temporary liability protection to dentists who administer COVID-19 vaccines.
"We respectfully ask your office to issue guidance regarding civil liability protection for dentists who administer approved COVID-19 vaccines under the [Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act]," ADA President Daniel Klemmedson, MD, DDS, and ADA Executive Director Kathleen O'Loughlin, DMD, wrote in the Feb. 11 letter to HHS.
The Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act allows HHS officials to issue a declaration in times of a public health emergency. A declaration provides immunity from most tort liability claims to those involved in the manufacture, distribution or dispensing of medical countermeasures, which can include vaccines. A declaration for dentistry would allow dentists across the U.S. to administer the COVID-19 vaccine, regardless of state laws that prohibit dentists from doing so.
The ADA and more than 20 other health organizations asked then-President Donald Trump's administration in September 2020 for the same liability protection.