Community Immunity During COVID–19 Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8061 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 AUGUST 14, 2020 Ms. UNDERWOOD (for herself, Ms. SCHRIER, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, and Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee 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 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:45 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8061.IH H8061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8061 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 05:45 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8061.IH H8061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8061 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 05:45 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8061.IH H8061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8061 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 (3), including— 6 ‘‘(A) a health care provider, which may in- 7 clude a pediatrician, pediatric nurse practi- 8 tioner, family physician, internal medicine phy- 9 sician, or primary care provider; 10 ‘‘(B) a school nurse; 11 ‘‘(C) an organization that primarily pro- 12 vides health care or social services for— 13 ‘‘(i) groups that have a low rate of 14 immunizations; 15 ‘‘(ii) individuals with a chronic health 16 condition or underlying medical condition 17 associated with increased risk for severe ill- 18 ness from COVID–19; or 19 ‘‘(iii) individuals with a limited pro- 20 ficiency in the English language; 21 ‘‘(D) a faith-based organization; 22 ‘‘(E) a long-term care facility, senior cen- 23 ter, or other facility in which recommended im- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:45 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8061.IH H8061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8061 IH munizations for older adults may be provided or 1 promoted by the staff of such facility or center; 2 ‘‘(F) a vaccine coalition; 3 ‘‘(G) a pediatric hospital; 4 ‘‘(H) a pharmacy; 5 ‘‘(I) a kindergarten, elementary, or sec- 6 ondary school; or 7 ‘‘(J) an institution of higher education. 8 ‘‘(4) EVALUATION.—Not later than 18 months 9 after the date on which a covered health department 10 receives a grant under this subsection, the covered 11 health department shall submit to the Secretary an 12 evaluation on the effectiveness of the activities car- 13 ried out using such funds to increase the rate of rec- 14 ommended immunizations. 15 ‘‘(5) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 16 years after the date of the enactment of this sub- 17 section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a re- 18 port that includes— 19 ‘‘(A) an evaluation of the effectiveness of 20 the activities under paragraph (3) to increase 21 the rate of recommended immunizations, based 22 on the evaluations submitted pursuant to para- 23 graph (6); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:45 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8061.IH H8061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8061 IH ‘‘(B) recommendations to increase the rate 1 of recommended immunizations, including rec- 2 ommendations with respect to any public health 3 emergency that occurs in the future. 4 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 5 ‘‘(A) COVERED HEALTH DEPARTMENT.— 6 The term ‘covered health department’ means 7 the public health department of a State, local, 8 or Tribal government. 9 ‘‘(B) COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMER- 10 GENCY.—The term ‘COVID–19 public health 11 emergency’ means the public health emergency 12 declared by the Secretary of Health and 13 Human Services under section 319 of this Act 14 on January 31, 2020, with respect to COVID– 15 19. 16 ‘‘(C) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU- 17 CATION.—The term ‘institution of higher edu- 18 cation’ has the meaning given that term in sec- 19 tion 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 20 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 21 ‘‘(D) RECOMMENDED IMMUNIZATIONS.— 22 The term ‘recommended immunizations’ means 23 immunizations recommended by the Advisory 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:45 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8061.IH H8061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8061 IH Committee on Immunization Practices of the 1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2 ‘‘(7) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this sub- 4 section, there is authorized to be appropriated, 5 $560,000,000 to remain available until ex- 6 pended. 7 ‘‘(B) APPORTIONMENT.—In awarding 8 grant funds under this subsection, the Sec- 9 retary shall apportion the amounts appropriated 10 to carry out this subsection as follows: 11 ‘‘(i) Not less than 50 percent of such 12 funds to State and Tribal public health de- 13 partments. 14 ‘‘(ii) Not less than 50 percent of such 15 funds to local health departments. 16 ‘‘(iii) Based on the population of the 17 State, local, or Tribal government in- 18 volved.’’. 19 SEC. 3. COVID–19 VACCINE GUIDANCE. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 months after the 21 date of enactment of this section, the Director of the Cen- 22 ters for Disease Control and Prevention (in this section 23 referred to as the ‘‘Director’’), in consultation with the 24 Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and Cen- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:45 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8061.IH H8061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8061 IH ters for Medicare & Medicaid Services, shall develop and 1 distribute to health care providers and State education 2 agencies guidance to provide health counseling services 3 with respect to a vaccine licensed under section 351 of 4 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 262) for the pre- 5 vention, mitigation, or treatment of COVID–19. 6 (b) CONTENT.—The guidance developed pursuant to 7 subsection (a) shall— 8 (1) be aligned with evidence-based practices; 9 and 10 (2) include information that is culturally appro- 11 priate. 12 (c) UPDATE.—The Director shall periodically update 13 and distribute, as appropriate, the guidance developed 14 pursuant to subsection (a). 15 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 16 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 17 $2,500,000 to remain available until expended. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:45 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8061.IH H8061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS