VACCINES Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2862 To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a national system for surveillance of vaccine rates, to authorize research on vaccine hesi- tancy, to increase public understanding of the benefits of immunizations, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 21, 2019 Ms. SCHRIER (for herself, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. SCHRADER, and Mr. BILIRAKIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a national system for surveillance of vaccine rates, to authorize research on vaccine hesitancy, to increase pub- lic understanding of the benefits of 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 ‘‘Vaccine Awareness 4 Campaign to Champion Immunization Nationally and En- 5 hance Safety Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘VACCINES Act of 6 2019’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2862.IH H2862 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2862 IH SEC. 2. VACCINE SURVEILLANCE AND RESEARCH. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 317 of the Public Health 2 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b) is amended by adding at 3 the end the following new subsection: 4 ‘‘(n) VACCINE SURVEILLANCE AND RESEARCH.— 5 ‘‘(1) SURVEILLANCE.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 7 through the Director of the Centers for Disease 8 Control and Prevention, and in consultation 9 with the National Vaccine Advisory Committee 10 and the Director of the National Vaccine Pro- 11 gram, shall develop and deploy a national sys- 12 tem for surveillance of vaccination rates. 13 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—The sur- 14 veillance system under subparagraph (A) may 15 include the following: 16 ‘‘(i) Use of immunization data avail- 17 able to the Centers for Disease Control 18 and Prevention and its contractors. 19 ‘‘(ii) Integration of data from existing 20 systems— 21 ‘‘(I) to measure vaccination con- 22 fidence over time; 23 ‘‘(II) to understand variations 24 across time and geography; and 25 ‘‘(III) to measure vaccine refusal. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2862.IH H2862 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2862 IH ‘‘(C) USE OF DATA.—The Secretary may 1 use data collected pursuant to the surveillance 2 system under subparagraph (A) to predict and 3 identify areas and communities where— 4 ‘‘(i) vaccines are or will be underuti- 5 lized; 6 ‘‘(ii) vaccine confidence is low or de- 7 creasing; or 8 ‘‘(iii) misinformation about the safety 9 of vaccines, not supported by scientific or 10 medical evidence, has been directed in a 11 targeted manner. 12 ‘‘(D) CONSULTATION.—In developing the 13 surveillance system under subparagraph (A), 14 the Secretary shall consult with the National 15 Academies to synthesize existing evidence and 16 develop a standardized measurement of vaccine 17 confidence. 18 ‘‘(E) FUNDING.—There are authorized to 19 be appropriated $15,000,000 for each of fiscal 20 years 2020 through 2024 to carry out this 21 paragraph. 22 ‘‘(2) GRANTS FOR RESEARCH.—The Secretary 23 may award grants for research— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2862.IH H2862 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2862 IH ‘‘(A) to improve the understanding of vac- 1 cine hesitancy; 2 ‘‘(B) to improve understanding of health 3 care provider attitudes and beliefs toward vac- 4 cination; and 5 ‘‘(C) to develop effective strategies for ad- 6 dressing non-adherence to the safe and rec- 7 ommended use of vaccines and encouraging the 8 safe and recommended use of vaccines.’’. 9 (b) UPDATE OF 2015 NVAC REPORT.—The National 10 Vaccine Advisory Committee shall— 11 (1) assess the state of vaccine confidence in the 12 United States; and 13 (2) update the findings and recommendations in 14 the report on this topic approved by the National 15 Vaccine Advisory Committee on June 10, 2015. 16 SEC. 3. PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN ON THE IMPOR- 17 TANCE OF VACCINATIONS. 18 Section 317 of the Public Health Service Act (42 19 U.S.C. 247b), as amended by section 3, is further amend- 20 ed by adding at the end the following new subsection: 21 ‘‘(o) PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN ON THE IMPOR- 22 TANCE OF VACCINATIONS.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 24 through the Director of the Centers for Disease 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2862.IH H2862 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2862 IH Control and Prevention, shall carry out a national 1 campaign to increase awareness of the importance 2 of, combat misinformation about, and increase rates 3 of, vaccinations across the lifespan. 4 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the cam- 5 paign under this subsection, the Secretary shall con- 6 sult with the National Academy of Medicine and na- 7 tionally recognized private entities, including medical 8 and public health associations and nonprofit organi- 9 zations, to solicit advice on evidence-based informa- 10 tion for policy development and program develop- 11 ment, implementation, and evaluation. 12 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—The campaign under 13 this subsection— 14 ‘‘(A) shall be an evidence-based media and 15 public engagement initiative; 16 ‘‘(B) shall be carried out through competi- 17 tively bid contracts awarded to one or more 18 public or private entities; 19 ‘‘(C) may include the use of television, 20 radio, print, the internet, and other commercial 21 marketing venues; 22 ‘‘(D) may include the use of in-person pub- 23 lic communications; 24 ‘‘(E) may be targeted to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2862.IH H2862 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2862 IH ‘‘(i) specific groups and local needs of 1 communities with high rates of unvaccinat- 2 ed individuals; or 3 ‘‘(ii) areas or communities identified 4 pursuant to subsection (n)(1)(C); 5 ‘‘(F) shall include the development of cul- 6 turally and linguistically competent resources 7 that may be tailored for communities with high 8 rates of unvaccinated individuals; 9 ‘‘(G) shall include the dissemination of 10 vaccine information and vaccine communication 11 resources to health care providers and health 12 care facilities, including pharmacists, State and 13 local public health departments, and health care 14 providers and facilities that provide prenatal 15 and pediatric care; 16 ‘‘(H) may include the use of recognized 17 trusted figures; 18 ‘‘(I) shall be complementary to, and coordi- 19 nated with, any other Federal efforts; 20 ‘‘(J) shall include message testing to iden- 21 tify culturally competent and effective messages 22 for behavioral change; 23 ‘‘(K) may include the dissemination of in- 24 formation highlighting— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2862.IH H2862 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2862 IH ‘‘(i) advancements in research and 1 vaccine development that have saved mil- 2 lions of individuals from death and dis- 3 ability from now-preventable diseases; 4 ‘‘(ii) information on how individuals 5 across the lifespan benefit from immuniza- 6 tions, including those who cannot be vac- 7 cinated and rely on community immunity; 8 ‘‘(iii) information on the dangers of 9 not being vaccinated, including the poten- 10 tial for infectious disease outbreaks within 11 communities; and 12 ‘‘(iv) information on vaccine safety 13 and the systems in place to monitor vac- 14 cine safety; 15 ‘‘(L) shall include the award of grants to 16 State, local, and tribal public health depart- 17 ments— 18 ‘‘(i) to identify and prioritize engage- 19 ment with communities with high rates of 20 unvaccinated individuals; 21 ‘‘(ii) to engage communities with high 22 rates of unvaccinated individuals in under- 23 standing the challenges to increasing vac- 24 cination rates in the respective commu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2862.IH H2862 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2862 IH nities and developing effective strategies 1 (including through formative research or 2 focus groups) to increase such rates; and 3 ‘‘(iii) to encourage partnerships with 4 community organizations and health care 5 providers to develop and deliver evidence 6 based interventions to increase vaccination 7 rates; and 8 ‘‘(M) may include the development and dis- 9 semination of evidence-based scientific curricula 10 for use in public elementary schools and sec- 11 ondary schools (as defined in section 8101 of 12 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 13 of 1965) on infectious disease outbreaks and 14 how they can be prevented and controlled. 15 ‘‘(4) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall— 16 ‘‘(A) establish baseline measures and 17 benchmarks to quantitatively evaluate the im- 18 pact of the campaign under this subsection; 19 ‘‘(B) conduct qualitative assessments re- 20 garding the effectiveness of strategies employed 21 under this subsection; and 22 ‘‘(C) prepare and submit to the Committee 23 on Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep- 24 resentatives and the Committee on Health, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2862.IH H2862 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2862 IH Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate 1 an evaluation of the campaign. 2 ‘‘(5) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be ap- 3 propriated $6,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 4 through 2024 to carry out this subsection.’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2862.IH H2862 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS