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) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish and support public awareness campaigns to 

address COVID–19-related health disparities and promote vaccination. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘COVID–19 Health 

5 Disparities Action Act of 2021’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 465 IS

1 SEC. 2. FEDERAL PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS TO AD2 DRESS COVID–19-RELATED HEALTH DISPARI3 TIES AND PROMOTE VACCINATION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the 

5 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven6 tion and in coordination with the White House COVID– 

7 19 Health Equity Task Force, the Office of Minority 

8 Health of the Department of Health and Human Services, 

9 the Surgeon General, the National Vaccine Program Of10 fice, and, as appropriate, in coordination with the relevant 

11 Offices of Minority Health in the Department of Health 

12 and Human Services, the National Institute on Minority 

13 Health and Health Disparities, the Indian Health Service, 

14 and other relevant Federal offices and agencies, shall, sub15 ject to the availability of funding, develop and implement 

16 public awareness campaigns about COVID–19 vaccination 

17 and other relevant information about COVID–19 directed 

18 at racial and ethnic minority, rural, and other vulnerable 

19 populations that have experienced health disparities dur20 ing the COVID–19 public health emergency related to 

21 rates of vaccination, testing, infection, hospitalization, and 

22 death. 

23 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The public awareness cam24 paigns under this section shall— 

25 (1) prioritize communities where the greatest 

26 health disparities have been identified with respect 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 465 IS

1 to rates of vaccination, testing, infection, hospitaliza2 tion, and death related to COVID–19, with a focus 

3 on disparities affecting racial and ethnic minority, 

4 rural, and other vulnerable populations; 

5 (2) be accessible, culturally competent, and, as 

6 appropriate, multilingual; 

7 (3) use print, radio, or internet media, includ8 ing partnerships with social media influencers and 

9 thought leaders, or other forms of public commu10 nication, including local, independent, or community11 based written news and electronic publications; and 

12 (4) provide information based on scientific evi13 dence, dispel misinformation, and promote trans14 parency regarding— 

15 (A) COVID–19 vaccination, which may in16 clude information regarding— 

17 (i) the effects of COVID–19 vaccina18 tion on disease transmission and severity, 

19 and the associated health impacts for indi20 viduals, communities, or the Nation; 

21 (ii) the effects of COVID–19 vaccina22 tion on the economic health of communities 

23 or the Nation; 

24 (iii) the current or upcoming avail25 ability of COVID–19 vaccination with no 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 465 IS

1 cost-sharing for most United States resi2 dents; 

3 (iv) locations where COVID–19 vac4 cinations are or will be available; 

5 (v) any relevant information regarding 

6 vaccination allocation or populations that 

7 are prioritized for vaccination in the re8 gion; and 

9 (vi) any other information regarding 

10 COVID–19 vaccination, as the Secretary 

11 determines appropriate; 

12 (B) COVID–19 testing, which may include 

13 information regarding— 

14 (i) the effects of COVID–19 testing 

15 on disease transmission; 

16 (ii) the availability of COVID–19 test17 ing with no cost-sharing for most United 

18 States residents; and 

19 (iii) locations where COVID–19 test20 ing is available in the region; 

21 (C) the actions that individuals may take 

22 to protect themselves from COVID–19, which 

23 may include masking and social distancing; or 

24 (D) any other topics related to COVID–19, 

25 as the Secretary determines appropriate. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 465 IS

1 (c) COORDINATION.—The public awareness cam2 paigns under this section shall be complementary to, and 

3 coordinated with, any other Federal, State, Tribal, and 

4 local efforts, including the grant program described in sec5 tion 3, as appropriate. 

6 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 45 days 

7 after the date on which amounts are made available to 

8 the Secretary under this section, the Secretary shall sub9 mit to Congress a report on how such funds have been 

10 used during such 45-day period and a plan for using any 

11 remaining funds within the next 45 days. 

12 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

13 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

14 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2021. 

15 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM FOR PUBLIC AWARENESS CAM16 PAIGNS TO ADDRESS COVID–19-RELATED 

17 HEALTH DISPARITIES AND PROMOTE VAC18 CINATION. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the 

20 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven21 tion and in coordination with the White House COVID– 

22 19 Health Equity Task Force, the Office of Minority 

23 Health of the Department of Health and Human Services, 

24 the Surgeon General, the National Vaccine Program Of25 fice, and, as appropriate, in coordination with the relevant 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 465 IS

1 Offices of Minority Health in the Department of Health 

2 and Human Services, the National Institute on Minority 

3 Health and Health Disparities, the Indian Health Service, 

4 and other relevant Federal offices and agencies, shall 

5 award competitive grants to State, Tribal, and territorial 

6 health departments to support public awareness cam7 paigns about COVID–19 directed at racial and ethnic mi8 nority, rural, and other vulnerable populations that have 

9 experienced health disparities during the COVID–19 pub10 lic health emergency related to rates of vaccination, test11 ing, infection, hospitalization, and death. 

12 (b) ELIGIBLE LOCAL ENTITIES.—Recipients of 

13 grants under this section may disseminate the grant fund14 ing to eligible local entities, which may include local health 

15 departments, nonprofit community-based organizations, 

16 Tribal organizations, urban Indian organizations, health 

17 care providers, institutions of higher education, and non18 profit faith-based organizations, to develop and implement 

19 the public awareness campaigns described in subsection 

20 (a). 

21 (c) PROTOTYPES.—The Secretary shall develop pro22 totype campaign materials and make such materials avail23 able on the internet website of the Department of Health 

24 and Human Services for grant recipients and eligible local 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 465 IS

1 entities to adapt as needed to meet the needs of local com2 munities. 

3 (d) REQUIREMENTS.—The public awareness cam4 paigns under this section shall— 

5 (1) prioritize communities where the greatest 

6 health disparities have been identified with respect 

7 to rates of vaccination, testing, infection, hospitaliza8 tion, and death related to COVID–19, with a focus 

9 on disparities affecting racial and ethnic minority, 

10 rural, and other vulnerable populations; 

11 (2) be accessible, culturally competent, and, as 

12 appropriate, multilingual; 

13 (3) use print, radio, or internet media, includ14 ing partnerships with social media influencers and 

15 thought leaders, or other forms of public commu16 nication, including local, independent, or community17 based written news and electronic publications; and 

18 (4) provide information based on scientific evi19 dence, dispel misinformation, and promote trans20 parency regarding— 

21 (A) COVID–19 vaccination, which may in22 clude information regarding— 

23 (i) the effects of COVID–19 vaccina24 tion on disease transmission and severity, 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 465 IS

1 and the associated health impacts for indi2 viduals, communities, or the Nation; 

3 (ii) the effects of COVID–19 vaccina4 tion on the economic health of communities 

5 or the Nation; 

6 (iii) the current or upcoming avail7 ability of COVID–19 vaccination with no 

8 cost-sharing for most United States resi9 dents; 

10 (iv) locations where COVID–19 vac11 cinations are or will be available; 

12 (v) any relevant information regarding 

13 vaccination allocation or populations that 

14 are prioritized for vaccination in the re15 gion; and 

16 (vi) any other information regarding 

17 COVID–19 vaccination, as the Secretary 

18 determines appropriate; 

19 (B) COVID–19 testing, which may include 

20 information regarding— 

21 (i) the effects of COVID–19 testing 

22 on disease transmission; 

23 (ii) the availability of COVID–19 test24 ing with no cost-sharing for most United 

25 States residents; and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 465 IS

1 (iii) locations where COVID–19 test2 ing is available in the region; 

3 (C) the actions that individuals may take 

4 to protect themselves from COVID–19, which 

5 may include masking and social distancing; or 

6 (D) any other topics related to COVID–19, 

7 as the Secretary determines appropriate. 

8 (e) COORDINATION.—The public health campaigns 

9 supported by grants awarded under this section shall be 

10 complementary to, and coordinated with, any other Fed11 eral, State, or local efforts, including the public awareness 

12 campaigns described in section 2, as appropriate. 

13 (f) TIMING.—The Secretary shall award the grants 

14 under this section not later than 60 days after the date 

15 of enactment of this Act. 

16 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

17 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

18 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 and $25,000,000 for fis19 cal year 2022. 

20 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act— 

22 (1) the term ‘‘COVID–19 public health emer23 gency’’ means the public health emergency first de24 clared by the Secretary of Health and Human Serv25 ices under section 319 of the Public Health Service 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 465 IS

1 Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020, with re2 spect to COVID–19; 

3 (2) the term ‘‘racial and ethnic minority’’ has 

4 the meaning given the term ‘‘racial and ethnic mi5 nority group’’ in section 1707(g) of the Public 

6 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300u–6(g)); 

7 (3) the term ‘‘relevant Offices of Minority 

8 Health in the Department of Health and Human 

9 Services’’ may include— 

10 (A) the Office of Extramural Research, 

11 Education, and Priority Populations of the 

12 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 

13 (B) the Office of Minority Health and 

14 Health Equity of the Centers for Disease Con15 trol and Prevention; 

16 (C) the Office of Minority Health of the 

17 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; 

18 (D) the Office of Minority Health and 

19 Health Equity of the Food and Drug Adminis20 tration; 

21 (E) the Office of Health Equity of the 

22 Health Resources and Services Administration; 

23 and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 465 IS

1 (F) the Office of Behavioral Health Equity 

2 of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 

3 Services Administration; 

4 (4) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

5 of Health and Human Services; 

6 (5) the term ‘‘Tribal organization’’ has the 

7 meanings given the term ‘‘tribal organization’’ in 

8 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu9 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304); and 

10 (6) the term ‘‘urban Indian organization’’ has 

11 the meaning given the term in section 4 of the In12 dian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 

13 1603). 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS