II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4737 

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 purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 

Ms. SMITH 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 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 purposes. 

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 ‘‘Community Immunity 

5 During COVID–19 Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO INCREASE THE RATE OF IMMUNIZA2 TIONS. 

3 Section 317 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 247b) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing new subsection: 

6 ‘‘(n) GRANTS TO INCREASE THE RATE OF IMMUNI7 ZATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

9 through the Director of the Centers for Disease 

10 Control and Prevention, shall make grants to cov11 ered health departments to increase the rate of rec12 ommended immunizations during the COVID–19 

13 public health emergency. 

14 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—A covered health depart15 ment receiving a grant under this section may use 

16 funds received through the grant for the following: 

17 ‘‘(A) Providing funds to programs that in18 crease the rate of recommended immunizations 

19 during the COVID–19 public health emergency, 

20 including supporting evidence-based outreach 

21 and educational activities in communities served 

22 by the covered health department involved. 

23 ‘‘(B) Supporting efforts by health care 

24 providers to communicate the importance of 

25 maintaining immunization schedules and visVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4737.IS S4737

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1 iting a primary care provider during the 

2 COVID–19 public health emergency. 

3 ‘‘(C) Increasing awareness with respect to 

4 health insurance options and programs that re5 duce the cost of vaccines, including the Vac6 cines for Children program (or similar pro7 gram) carried out by the Centers for Disease 

8 Control and Prevention. 

9 ‘‘(D) Evaluating efforts to increase the 

10 rate of recommended immunizations in commu11 nities described in subparagraph (A) during the 

12 COVID–19 public health emergency. 

13 ‘‘(E) Developing and distributing culturally 

14 and linguistically appropriate messages about 

15 the importance of recommended immunizations 

16 during the COVID–19 public health emergency, 

17 including vaccines licensed under section 351 of 

18 this Act to prevent the virus that causes 

19 COVID–19. 

20 ‘‘(F) Combating misinformation and disin21 formation with respect to vaccines and the safe22 ty of vaccines, including a vaccine that will be 

23 licensed under section 351 of this Act or au24 thorized for emergency use under section 564 of 

25 the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 


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1 U.S.C. 300bbb–3) to prevent the virus that 

2 causes COVID–19. 

3 ‘‘(3) PARTNERSHIPS.—A covered health depart4 ment that receives a grant under this section may 

5 develop a partnership with entities and individuals in 

6 the communities served by the State, local, or Tribal 

7 government involved to carry out the activities under 

8 paragraph (3), including— 

9 ‘‘(A) a health care provider; 

10 ‘‘(B) a local educational agency, including 

11 school nurses employed by such agencies; 

12 ‘‘(C) an organization that primarily pro13 vides health care or social services for— 

14 ‘‘(i) groups that have a low rate of 

15 immunizations; 

16 ‘‘(ii) individuals with a chronic health 

17 condition or underlying medical condition 

18 associated with increased risk for severe ill19 ness from COVID–19; 

20 ‘‘(iii) racial and ethnic minority, rural, 

21 and other vulnerable populations; or 

22 ‘‘(iv) individuals with a limited pro23 ficiency in the English language; 

24 ‘‘(D) a faith-based organization; 


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1 ‘‘(E) a long-term care facility, senior cen2 ter, or other facility in which recommended im3 munizations for older adults may be provided or 

4 promoted by the staff of such facility or center; 

5 ‘‘(F) a vaccine coalition; 

6 ‘‘(G) a pediatric hospital; 

7 ‘‘(H) a pharmacy; 

8 ‘‘(I) an early childhood education program 

9 or child care provider; 

10 ‘‘(J) a public elementary, or secondary 

11 school; or 

12 ‘‘(K) an institution of higher education. 

13 ‘‘(4) EVALUATION.—Not later than 18 months 

14 after the date on which a covered health department 

15 receives a grant under this subsection, the covered 

16 health department shall submit to the Secretary an 

17 evaluation on the effectiveness of the activities car18 ried out using such funds to increase the rate of rec19 ommended immunizations. 

20 ‘‘(5) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 

21 years after the date of the enactment of this sub22 section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a re23 port that includes— 

24 ‘‘(A) an evaluation of the effectiveness of 

25 the activities under paragraph (3) to increase 


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1 the rate of recommended immunizations, based 

2 on the evaluations submitted pursuant to para3 graph (6); and 

4 ‘‘(B) recommendations to increase the rate 

5 of recommended immunizations, including rec6 ommendations with respect to any public health 

7 emergency that occurs in the future. 

8 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In this subsection: 

10 ‘‘(i) COVERED HEALTH DEPART11 MENT.—The term ‘covered health depart12 ment’ means the public health department 

13 of a State, local, or Tribal government. 

14 ‘‘(ii) COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH

15 EMERGENCY.—The term ‘COVID–19 pub16 lic health emergency’ means the public 

17 health emergency declared by the Secretary 

18 of Health and Human Services under sec19 tion 319 of this Act on January 31, 2020, 

20 with respect to COVID–19. 

21 ‘‘(iii) EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

22 PROGRAM.—The term ‘early childhood edu23 cation program’ has the meaning given 

24 such term in section 103 of the Higher 

25 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003). 


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1 ‘‘(iv) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘In2 dian tribe’ has the meaning given such 

3 term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter4 mination and Education Assistance Act 

5 (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

6 ‘‘(v) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU7 CATION.—The term ‘institution of higher 

8 education’ has the meaning given that 

9 term in section 101 of the Higher Edu10 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

11 ‘‘(vi) RECOMMENDED IMMUNIZA12 TIONS.—The term ‘recommended immuni13 zations’ means immunizations recommend14 ed by the Advisory Committee on Immuni15 zation Practices of the Centers for Disease 

16 Control and Prevention. 

17 ‘‘(vii) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The 

18 term ‘tribal organization’ has the meaning 

19 given such term in section 4 of the Indian 

20 Self-Determination and Education Assist21 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

22 ‘‘(B) OTHER TERMS.—In this subsection, 

23 the terms ‘elementary school’, ‘secondary 

24 school’, and ‘local educational agency’ have the 

25 meanings given such terms in section 8101 of 


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1 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

2 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

3 ‘‘(7) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this sub5 section, there is authorized to be appropriated, 

6 $560,000,000 to remain available until ex7 pended. 

8 ‘‘(B) APPORTIONMENT.—In awarding 

9 grant funds under this subsection, the Sec10 retary shall apportion the amounts appropriated 

11 to carry out this subsection as follows: 

12 ‘‘(i) Not less than 50 percent of such 

13 funds to State and Tribal public health de14 partments. 

15 ‘‘(ii) Not less than 50 percent of such 

16 funds to local health departments. 

17 ‘‘(iii) Based on the population of the 

18 State, local, or Tribal government involved. 

19 ‘‘(C) TRIBAL FUNDS.—Of total amount 

20 appropriated under subparagraph (A), not less 

21 than 3 percent and not more than 5 percent of 

22 such amount shall be reserved for non-competi23 tive and formula-based awards to Indian Tribes 

24 and Tribal organizations.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. COVID–19 VACCINE GUIDANCE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 months after the 

3 date of enactment of this section, the Director of the Cen4 ters for Disease Control and Prevention (in this section 

5 referred to as the ‘‘Director’’), in consultation with the 

6 Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and Cen7 ters for Medicare & Medicaid Services, shall develop and 

8 distribute to health care providers and State education 

9 agencies guidance to provide health counseling services 

10 with respect to a vaccine licensed under section 351 of 

11 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 262) or author12 ized for emergency use under section 564 of the Federal 

13 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 300bbb–3) for 

14 the prevention, mitigation, or treatment of COVID–19. 

15 (b) CONTENT.—The guidance developed pursuant to 

16 subsection (a) shall— 

17 (1) be aligned with evidence-based practices; 

18 and 

19 (2) include information that is culturally appro20 priate. 

21 (c) UPDATE.—The Director shall periodically update 

22 and distribute, as appropriate, the guidance developed 

23 pursuant to subsection (a). 


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1 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

3 $2,500,000 to remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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