Community Immunity During COVID–19 Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 736 To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to covered health departments to increase the rate of recommended immunizations, and for other pur- poses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 2, 2021 Ms. UNDERWOOD (for herself, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. KUSTER, and Ms. SCHRIER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Sec- retary of Health and Human Services to make grants to covered health departments to increase the rate of recommended immunizations, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Immunity 4 During COVID–19 Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H736.IH H736 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 736 IH SEC. 2. GRANTS TO INCREASE THE RATE OF IMMUNIZA- 1 TIONS. 2 Section 317 of the Public Health Service Act (42 3 U.S.C. 247b) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing new subsection: 5 ‘‘(n) GRANTS TO INCREASE THE RATE OF IMMUNI- 6 ZATIONS.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 8 through the Director of the Centers for Disease 9 Control and Prevention, shall make grants to cov- 10 ered health departments to increase the rate of rec- 11 ommended immunizations during the COVID–19 12 public health emergency. 13 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—A covered health depart- 14 ment receiving a grant under this section may use 15 funds received through the grant for the following: 16 ‘‘(A) Providing funds to programs that in- 17 crease the rate of recommended immunizations 18 during the COVID–19 public health emergency, 19 including supporting evidence-based outreach 20 and educational activities in communities served 21 by the covered health department involved. 22 ‘‘(B) Supporting efforts by health care 23 providers to communicate the importance of 24 maintaining immunization schedules and vis- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H736.IH H736 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 736 IH iting a primary care provider during the 1 COVID–19 public health emergency. 2 ‘‘(C) Increasing awareness with respect to 3 health insurance options and programs that re- 4 duce the cost of vaccines, including the Vac- 5 cines for Children program (or similar pro- 6 gram) carried out by the Centers for Disease 7 Control and Prevention. 8 ‘‘(D) Evaluating efforts to increase the 9 rate of recommended immunizations in commu- 10 nities described in subparagraph (A) during the 11 COVID–19 public health emergency. 12 ‘‘(E) Developing and distributing culturally 13 and linguistically appropriate messages about 14 the importance of recommended immunizations 15 during the COVID–19 public health emergency, 16 including vaccines licensed under section 351 of 17 this Act to prevent, mitigate, or treat the virus 18 that causes COVID–19. 19 ‘‘(F) Combating misinformation and 20 disinformation with respect to the safety of vac- 21 cines, including a vaccine that will be licensed 22 under section 351 of this Act to prevent, miti- 23 gate, or treat the virus that causes COVID–19. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H736.IH H736 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 736 IH ‘‘(3) PARTNERSHIPS.—A covered health depart- 1 ment that receives a grant under this section may 2 develop a partnership with entities and individuals in 3 the communities served by the State, local, or Tribal 4 government involved to carry out the activities under 5 paragraph (2), including— 6 ‘‘(A) a health care provider; 7 ‘‘(B) a school nurse; 8 ‘‘(C) an organization that primarily pro- 9 vides health care or social services for— 10 ‘‘(i) groups that have a low rate of 11 immunizations; 12 ‘‘(ii) individuals with a chronic health 13 condition or underlying medical condition 14 associated with increased risk for severe ill- 15 ness from COVID–19; or 16 ‘‘(iii) individuals with a limited pro- 17 ficiency in the English language; 18 ‘‘(D) a faith-based organization; 19 ‘‘(E) a long-term care facility, senior cen- 20 ter, or other facility in which recommended im- 21 munizations for older adults may be provided or 22 promoted by the staff of such facility or center; 23 ‘‘(F) a vaccine coalition; 24 ‘‘(G) a pediatric hospital; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H736.IH H736 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 736 IH ‘‘(H) a pharmacy; 1 ‘‘(I) a kindergarten, elementary, or sec- 2 ondary school; or 3 ‘‘(J) an institution of higher education. 4 ‘‘(4) EVALUATION.—Not later than 18 months 5 after the date on which a covered health department 6 receives a grant under this subsection, the covered 7 health department shall submit to the Secretary an 8 evaluation on the effectiveness of the activities car- 9 ried out using such funds to increase the rate of rec- 10 ommended immunizations. 11 ‘‘(5) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 12 years after the date of the enactment of this sub- 13 section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a re- 14 port that includes— 15 ‘‘(A) an evaluation of the effectiveness of 16 the activities under paragraph (2) to increase 17 the rate of recommended immunizations, based 18 on the evaluations submitted pursuant to para- 19 graph (4); and 20 ‘‘(B) recommendations to increase the rate 21 of recommended immunizations, including rec- 22 ommendations with respect to any public health 23 emergency that occurs in the future. 24 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H736.IH H736 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 736 IH ‘‘(A) COVERED HEALTH DEPARTMENT.— 1 The term ‘covered health department’ means 2 the public health department of a State, local, 3 or Tribal government. 4 ‘‘(B) COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMER- 5 GENCY.—The term ‘COVID–19 public health 6 emergency’ means the public health emergency 7 declared by the Secretary under section 319 on 8 January 31, 2020, with respect to COVID–19. 9 ‘‘(C) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU- 10 CATION.—The term ‘institution of higher edu- 11 cation’ has the meaning given that term in sec- 12 tion 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 13 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 14 ‘‘(D) RECOMMENDED IMMUNIZATIONS.— 15 The term ‘recommended immunizations’ means 16 immunizations recommended by the Advisory 17 Committee on Immunization Practices of the 18 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 19 ‘‘(7) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this sub- 21 section, there is authorized to be appropriated, 22 $560,000,000 to remain available until ex- 23 pended. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H736.IH H736 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 736 IH ‘‘(B) APPORTIONMENT.—In awarding 1 grant funds under this subsection, the Sec- 2 retary shall apportion the amounts appropriated 3 pursuant to subparagraph (A) for a fiscal year, 4 based on the population of the State, local, or 5 Tribal government involved, as follows: 6 ‘‘(i) Not less than 50 percent of such 7 funds to State and Tribal public health de- 8 partments. 9 ‘‘(ii) Not less than 50 percent of such 10 funds to local health departments.’’. 11 SEC. 3. COVID–19 VACCINE GUIDANCE. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 months after the 13 date of enactment of this section, the Director of the Cen- 14 ters for Disease Control and Prevention (in this section 15 referred to as the ‘‘Director’’), in consultation with the 16 Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and the 17 Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 18 Services, shall develop and distribute to health care pro- 19 viders and State education agencies guidance to provide 20 health counseling services with respect to a vaccine li- 21 censed under section 351 of the Public Health Service Act 22 (42 U.S.C. 262) for the prevention, mitigation, or treat- 23 ment of COVID–19. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H736.IH H736 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 736 IH (b) CONTENT.—The guidance developed pursuant to 1 subsection (a) shall— 2 (1) be aligned with evidence-based practices; 3 and 4 (2) include information that is culturally appro- 5 priate. 6 (c) UPDATE.—The Director shall periodically update 7 and distribute, as appropriate, the guidance developed 8 pursuant to subsection (a). 9 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 10 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 11 $2,500,000 to remain available until expended. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H736.IH H736 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS