[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1619 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Vaccine Awareness Campaign to 
Champion Immunization Nationally and Enhance Safety Act of 2019'' or 
the ``VACCINES Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVING AWARENESS OF DISEASE PREVENTION.

    The Public Health Service Act is amended by striking section 313 of 
such Act (42 U.S.C. 245) and inserting the following:

``SEC. 313. PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN ON THE IMPORTANCE OF 
              VACCINATIONS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and in coordination with 
other offices and agencies, as appropriate, shall award competitive 
grants to one or more public or private entities to carry out a 
national, evidence-based campaign to increase awareness of vaccines for 
the prevention and control of diseases, combat misinformation about 
vaccines, and disseminate scientific and evidence-based, vaccine-
related information, with the goal of increasing rates of vaccination 
across all ages, as applicable, particularly in communities with low 
rates of vaccination.
    ``(b) Consultation.--In carrying out the campaign under this 
section, the Secretary shall consult with appropriate public health and 
medical experts, including the National Academy of Medicine and medical 
and public health associations and nonprofit organizations, in the 
development, implementation, and evaluation of the evidence-based 
public awareness campaign.
    ``(c) Requirements.--The campaign under this section--
            ``(1) shall be a national, evidence-based initiative;
            ``(2) may include the use of television, radio, the 
        internet, and other telecommunications technologies;
            ``(3) may be focused to address specific needs of 
        communities with low vaccination rates;
            ``(4) shall include the development of resources for 
        communities with low vaccination rates, including culturally 
        and linguistically appropriate resources, as applicable;
            ``(5) shall include the dissemination of vaccine 
        information and communication resources to health care 
        providers and health care facilities, including such providers 
        and facilities that provide prenatal and pediatric care;
            ``(6) shall be complementary to, and coordinated with, any 
        other Federal efforts and State efforts, as appropriate;
            ``(7) shall assess the effectiveness of communication 
        strategies to increase vaccination rates; and
            ``(8) may include the dissemination of scientific and 
        evidence-based vaccine-related information, such as--
                    ``(A) advancements in evidence-based research 
                related to diseases that may be prevented by vaccines 
                and vaccine development;
                    ``(B) information on vaccinations for individuals 
                and communities, including individuals for whom 
                vaccines are not recommended by the Advisory Committee 
                for Immunization Practices, and the effects of low 
                vaccination rates within a community on such 
                individuals;
                    ``(C) information on diseases that may be prevented 
                by vaccines; and
                    ``(D) information on vaccine safety and the systems 
                in place to monitor vaccine safety.
    ``(d) Evaluation.--The Secretary shall--
            ``(1) establish benchmarks and metrics to quantitatively 
        measure and evaluate the awareness campaign under this section;
            ``(2) conduct qualitative assessments regarding the 
        awareness campaign under this section; and
            ``(3) prepare and submit to the Committee on Health, 
        Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and Committee on 
        Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives an 
        evaluation of the awareness campaign under this section.
    ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section and section 317(k) such sums as 
may be necessary for fiscal years 2020 through 2024.''.

SEC. 3. GRANTS TO ADDRESS VACCINE-PREVENTABLE DISEASES.

    Section 317(k)(1) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
247b(k)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``; and'' and 
        inserting a semicolon;
            (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period and 
        inserting a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(E) planning, implementation, and evaluation of 
        activities to address vaccine-preventable diseases, including 
        activities to--
                    ``(i) identify communities at high risk of 
                outbreaks related to vaccine-preventable diseases;
                    ``(ii) pilot innovative approaches to improve 
                vaccination rates in communities with low rates of 
                vaccination;
                    ``(iii) reduce barriers to accessing vaccines and 
                evidence-based information about the health effects of 
                vaccines;
                    ``(iv) partner with community organizations and 
                health care providers to develop and deliver evidence-
                based interventions to increase vaccination rates; and
                    ``(v) improve delivery of evidence-based vaccine-
                related information to parents and others; and
            ``(F) research related to strategies for improving 
        awareness of scientific and evidence-based, vaccine-related 
        information, including for communities with low vaccination 
        rates, in order to understand barriers to vaccination, improve 
        vaccination rates, and assess the public health outcomes of 
        such strategies.''.
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