II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 465 To establish and support public awareness campaigns to address COVID– 19-related health disparities and promote vaccination. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 25, 2021 Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. PETERS, Mr. WARNER, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. LUJA´N, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. STABENOW, and Ms. SMITH) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To establish and support public awareness campaigns to address COVID–19-related health disparities and pro- mote vaccination. 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 ‘‘COVID–19 Health 4 Disparities Action Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S465.IS S465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 465 IS SEC. 2. FEDERAL PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS TO AD- 1 DRESS COVID–19-RELATED HEALTH DISPARI- 2 TIES AND PROMOTE VACCINATION. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the 4 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- 5 tion and in coordination with the White House COVID– 6 19 Health Equity Task Force, the Office of Minority 7 Health of the Department of Health and Human Services, 8 the Surgeon General, the National Vaccine Program Of- 9 fice, and, as appropriate, in coordination with the relevant 10 Offices of Minority Health in the Department of Health 11 and Human Services, the National Institute on Minority 12 Health and Health Disparities, the Indian Health Service, 13 and other relevant Federal offices and agencies, shall, sub- 14 ject to the availability of funding, develop and implement 15 public awareness campaigns about COVID–19 vaccination 16 and other relevant information about COVID–19 directed 17 at racial and ethnic minority, rural, and other vulnerable 18 populations that have experienced health disparities dur- 19 ing the COVID–19 public health emergency related to 20 rates of vaccination, testing, infection, hospitalization, and 21 death. 22 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The public awareness cam- 23 paigns under this section shall— 24 (1) prioritize communities where the greatest 25 health disparities have been identified with respect 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S465.IS S465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 465 IS to rates of vaccination, testing, infection, hospitaliza- 1 tion, and death related to COVID–19, with a focus 2 on disparities affecting racial and ethnic minority, 3 rural, and other vulnerable populations; 4 (2) be accessible, culturally competent, and, as 5 appropriate, multilingual; 6 (3) use print, radio, or internet media, includ- 7 ing partnerships with social media influencers and 8 thought leaders, or other forms of public commu- 9 nication, including local, independent, or community- 10 based written news and electronic publications; and 11 (4) provide information based on scientific evi- 12 dence, dispel misinformation, and promote trans- 13 parency regarding— 14 (A) COVID–19 vaccination, which may in- 15 clude information regarding— 16 (i) the effects of COVID–19 vaccina- 17 tion on disease transmission and severity, 18 and the associated health impacts for indi- 19 viduals, communities, or the Nation; 20 (ii) the effects of COVID–19 vaccina- 21 tion on the economic health of communities 22 or the Nation; 23 (iii) the current or upcoming avail- 24 ability of COVID–19 vaccination with no 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S465.IS S465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 465 IS cost-sharing for most United States resi- 1 dents; 2 (iv) locations where COVID–19 vac- 3 cinations are or will be available; 4 (v) any relevant information regarding 5 vaccination allocation or populations that 6 are prioritized for vaccination in the re- 7 gion; and 8 (vi) any other information regarding 9 COVID–19 vaccination, as the Secretary 10 determines appropriate; 11 (B) COVID–19 testing, which may include 12 information regarding— 13 (i) the effects of COVID–19 testing 14 on disease transmission; 15 (ii) the availability of COVID–19 test- 16 ing with no cost-sharing for most United 17 States residents; and 18 (iii) locations where COVID–19 test- 19 ing is available in the region; 20 (C) the actions that individuals may take 21 to protect themselves from COVID–19, which 22 may include masking and social distancing; or 23 (D) any other topics related to COVID–19, 24 as the Secretary determines appropriate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S465.IS S465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 465 IS (c) COORDINATION.—The public awareness cam- 1 paigns under this section shall be complementary to, and 2 coordinated with, any other Federal, State, Tribal, and 3 local efforts, including the grant program described in sec- 4 tion 3, as appropriate. 5 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 45 days 6 after the date on which amounts are made available to 7 the Secretary under this section, the Secretary shall sub- 8 mit to Congress a report on how such funds have been 9 used during such 45-day period and a plan for using any 10 remaining funds within the next 45 days. 11 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 12 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 13 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2021. 14 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM FOR PUBLIC AWARENESS CAM- 15 PAIGNS TO ADDRESS COVID–19-RELATED 16 HEALTH DISPARITIES AND PROMOTE VAC- 17 CINATION. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the 19 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- 20 tion and in coordination with the White House COVID– 21 19 Health Equity Task Force, the Office of Minority 22 Health of the Department of Health and Human Services, 23 the Surgeon General, the National Vaccine Program Of- 24 fice, and, as appropriate, in coordination with the relevant 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S465.IS S465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 465 IS Offices of Minority Health in the Department of Health 1 and Human Services, the National Institute on Minority 2 Health and Health Disparities, the Indian Health Service, 3 and other relevant Federal offices and agencies, shall 4 award competitive grants to State, Tribal, and territorial 5 health departments to support public awareness cam- 6 paigns about COVID–19 directed at racial and ethnic mi- 7 nority, rural, and other vulnerable populations that have 8 experienced health disparities during the COVID–19 pub- 9 lic health emergency related to rates of vaccination, test- 10 ing, infection, hospitalization, and death. 11 (b) ELIGIBLE LOCAL ENTITIES.—Recipients of 12 grants under this section may disseminate the grant fund- 13 ing to eligible local entities, which may include local health 14 departments, nonprofit community-based organizations, 15 Tribal organizations, urban Indian organizations, health 16 care providers, institutions of higher education, and non- 17 profit faith-based organizations, to develop and implement 18 the public awareness campaigns described in subsection 19 (a). 20 (c) PROTOTYPES.—The Secretary shall develop pro- 21 totype campaign materials and make such materials avail- 22 able on the internet website of the Department of Health 23 and Human Services for grant recipients and eligible local 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S465.IS S465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 465 IS entities to adapt as needed to meet the needs of local com- 1 munities. 2 (d) REQUIREMENTS.—The public awareness cam- 3 paigns under this section shall— 4 (1) prioritize communities where the greatest 5 health disparities have been identified with respect 6 to rates of vaccination, testing, infection, hospitaliza- 7 tion, and death related to COVID–19, with a focus 8 on disparities affecting racial and ethnic minority, 9 rural, and other vulnerable populations; 10 (2) be accessible, culturally competent, and, as 11 appropriate, multilingual; 12 (3) use print, radio, or internet media, includ- 13 ing partnerships with social media influencers and 14 thought leaders, or other forms of public commu- 15 nication, including local, independent, or community- 16 based written news and electronic publications; and 17 (4) provide information based on scientific evi- 18 dence, dispel misinformation, and promote trans- 19 parency regarding— 20 (A) COVID–19 vaccination, which may in- 21 clude information regarding— 22 (i) the effects of COVID–19 vaccina- 23 tion on disease transmission and severity, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S465.IS S465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 465 IS and the associated health impacts for indi- 1 viduals, communities, or the Nation; 2 (ii) the effects of COVID–19 vaccina- 3 tion on the economic health of communities 4 or the Nation; 5 (iii) the current or upcoming avail- 6 ability of COVID–19 vaccination with no 7 cost-sharing for most United States resi- 8 dents; 9 (iv) locations where COVID–19 vac- 10 cinations are or will be available; 11 (v) any relevant information regarding 12 vaccination allocation or populations that 13 are prioritized for vaccination in the re- 14 gion; and 15 (vi) any other information regarding 16 COVID–19 vaccination, as the Secretary 17 determines appropriate; 18 (B) COVID–19 testing, which may include 19 information regarding— 20 (i) the effects of COVID–19 testing 21 on disease transmission; 22 (ii) the availability of COVID–19 test- 23 ing with no cost-sharing for most United 24 States residents; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S465.IS S465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 465 IS (iii) locations where COVID–19 test- 1 ing is available in the region; 2 (C) the actions that individuals may take 3 to protect themselves from COVID–19, which 4 may include masking and social distancing; or 5 (D) any other topics related to COVID–19, 6 as the Secretary determines appropriate. 7 (e) COORDINATION.—The public health campaigns 8 supported by grants awarded under this section shall be 9 complementary to, and coordinated with, any other Fed- 10 eral, State, or local efforts, including the public awareness 11 campaigns described in section 2, as appropriate. 12 (f) TIMING.—The Secretary shall award the grants 13 under this section not later than 60 days after the date 14 of enactment of this Act. 15 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 16 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 17 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 and $25,000,000 for fis- 18 cal year 2022. 19 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 20 In this Act— 21 (1) the term ‘‘COVID–19 public health emer- 22 gency’’ means the public health emergency first de- 23 clared by the Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 24 ices under section 319 of the Public Health Service 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S465.IS S465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 465 IS Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020, with re- 1 spect to COVID–19; 2 (2) the term ‘‘racial and ethnic minority’’ has 3 the meaning given the term ‘‘racial and ethnic mi- 4 nority group’’ in section 1707(g) of the Public 5 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300u–6(g)); 6 (3) the term ‘‘relevant Offices of Minority 7 Health in the Department of Health and Human 8 Services’’ may include— 9 (A) the Office of Extramural Research, 10 Education, and Priority Populations of the 11 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 12 (B) the Office of Minority Health and 13 Health Equity of the Centers for Disease Con- 14 trol and Prevention; 15 (C) the Office of Minority Health of the 16 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; 17 (D) the Office of Minority Health and 18 Health Equity of the Food and Drug Adminis- 19 tration; 20 (E) the Office of Health Equity of the 21 Health Resources and Services Administration; 22 and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S465.IS S465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 465 IS (F) the Office of Behavioral Health Equity 1 of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 2 Services Administration; 3 (4) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 4 of Health and Human Services; 5 (5) the term ‘‘Tribal organization’’ has the 6 meanings given the term ‘‘tribal organization’’ in 7 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu- 8 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304); and 9 (6) the term ‘‘urban Indian organization’’ has 10 the meaning given the term in section 4 of the In- 11 dian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 12 1603). 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S465.IS S465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS