VACCINES Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1619 To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a national campaign to raise awareness of the importance of, and combat misinformation about, vaccines in order to increase vaccination rates. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 22, 2019 Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. ROBERTS, and Ms. DUCKWORTH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a national campaign to raise awareness of the importance of, and combat misinformation about, vaccines in order to increase vaccination rates. 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’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1619.IS S1619 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1619 IS SEC. 2. IMPROVING AWARENESS OF DISEASE PREVENTION. 1 The Public Health Service Act is amended by striking 2 section 313 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 245) and inserting 3 the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 313. PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN ON THE IMPOR- 5 TANCE OF VACCINATIONS. 6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 7 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 8 vention and in coordination with other offices and agen- 9 cies, as appropriate, shall award competitive grants to one 10 or more public or private entities to carry out a national, 11 evidence-based campaign to increase awareness of vaccines 12 for the prevention and control of diseases, combat misin- 13 formation about vaccines, and disseminate scientific and 14 evidence-based, vaccine-related information, with the goal 15 of increasing rates of vaccination across all ages, as appli- 16 cable, particularly in communities with low rates of vac- 17 cination. 18 ‘‘(b) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the campaign 19 under this section, the Secretary shall consult with appro- 20 priate public health and medical experts, including the Na- 21 tional Academy of Medicine and medical and public health 22 associations and nonprofit organizations, in the develop- 23 ment, implementation, and evaluation of the evidence- 24 based public awareness campaign. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1619.IS S1619 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1619 IS ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.—The campaign under this sec- 1 tion— 2 ‘‘(1) shall be a national, evidence-based initia- 3 tive; 4 ‘‘(2) may include the use of television, radio, 5 the internet, and other telecommunications tech- 6 nologies; 7 ‘‘(3) may be focused to address specific needs 8 of communities with low vaccination rates; 9 ‘‘(4) shall include the development of resources 10 for communities with low vaccination rates, includ- 11 ing culturally and linguistically appropriate re- 12 sources, as applicable; 13 ‘‘(5) shall include the dissemination of vaccine 14 information and communication resources to health 15 care providers and health care facilities, including 16 such providers and facilities that provide prenatal 17 and pediatric care; 18 ‘‘(6) shall be complementary to, and coordi- 19 nated with, any other Federal efforts and State ef- 20 forts, as appropriate; 21 ‘‘(7) shall assess the effectiveness of commu- 22 nication strategies to increase vaccination rates; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1619.IS S1619 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1619 IS ‘‘(8) may include the dissemination of scientific 1 and evidence-based vaccine-related information, such 2 as— 3 ‘‘(A) advancements in evidence-based re- 4 search related to diseases that may be pre- 5 vented by vaccines and vaccine development; 6 ‘‘(B) information on vaccinations for indi- 7 viduals and communities, including individuals 8 for whom vaccines are not recommended by the 9 Advisory Committee for Immunization Prac- 10 tices, and the effects of low vaccination rates 11 within a community on such individuals; 12 ‘‘(C) information on diseases that may be 13 prevented by vaccines; and 14 ‘‘(D) information on vaccine safety and the 15 systems in place to monitor vaccine safety. 16 ‘‘(d) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall— 17 ‘‘(1) establish benchmarks and metrics to quan- 18 titatively measure and evaluate the awareness cam- 19 paign under this section; 20 ‘‘(2) conduct qualitative assessments regarding 21 the awareness campaign under this section; and 22 ‘‘(3) prepare and submit to the Committee on 23 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Sen- 24 ate and Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1619.IS S1619 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1619 IS House of Representatives an evaluation of the 1 awareness campaign under this section. 2 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 3 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 4 and section 317(k) such sums as may be necessary for 5 fiscal years 2020 through 2024.’’. 6 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO ADDRESS VACCINE-PREVENTABLE DIS- 7 EASES. 8 Section 317(k)(1) of the Public Health Service Act 9 (42 U.S.C. 247b(k)(1)) is amended— 10 (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 11 and inserting a semicolon; 12 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 13 and inserting a semicolon; and 14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(E) planning, implementation, and evaluation 16 of activities to address vaccine-preventable diseases, 17 including activities to— 18 ‘‘(i) identify communities at high risk of 19 outbreaks related to vaccine-preventable dis- 20 eases; 21 ‘‘(ii) pilot innovative approaches to improve 22 vaccination rates in communities with low rates 23 of vaccination; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1619.IS S1619 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1619 IS ‘‘(iii) reduce barriers to accessing vaccines 1 and evidence-based information about the 2 health effects of vaccines; 3 ‘‘(iv) partner with community organiza- 4 tions and health care providers to develop and 5 deliver evidence-based interventions to increase 6 vaccination rates; and 7 ‘‘(v) improve delivery of evidence-based 8 vaccine-related information to parents and oth- 9 ers; and 10 ‘‘(F) research related to strategies for improv- 11 ing awareness of scientific and evidence-based, vac- 12 cine-related information, including for communities 13 with low vaccination rates, in order to understand 14 barriers to vaccination, improve vaccination rates, 15 and assess the public health outcomes of such strate- 16 gies.’’. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1619.IS S1619 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS