Few public health or legal experts would describe the United States' approach to curbing the COVID-19 pandemic via public policy as "centralized" or "comprehensive."
Rather, state lawmakers — not the federal government — have largely responded to the crisis however they have wanted, resulting in a patchwork of coronavirus-related laws across the country.
At the heart of this ad-hoc approach to policy making was this question: Were laws related to the spread of COVID-19, such as mandatory masking or vaccination policies, at all tied to an area's rate of infection?
Conclusive answers likely remain years away. Scholars have so far only completed one-off studies, like this evaluation of mask requirements in Melbourne, Australia, or measured mandates' effectiveness during an isolated period of the pandemic.
Below, we added to that ongoing research with a state-by-state analysis of laws during the omicron surge in late January 2022 by synthesizing data compiled by the nonpartisan National Academy for State Health Policy and AARP.
Light red — States with laws that require most people to wear masks indoors and eligible health care workers and/or state employees to be vaccinated, as of late January 2022.
Dark red — States with laws that require vaccinations only among health care workers, state employees, or both of those groups, as of late January 2022.