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 purposes. 

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 referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

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 

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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, mitigate, or treat the virus 

19 that causes COVID–19. 

20 ‘‘(F) Combating misinformation and 

21 disinformation with respect to the safety of vac22 cines, including a vaccine that will be licensed 

23 under section 351 of this Act to prevent, miti24 gate, or treat the virus that causes COVID–19. 


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1 ‘‘(3) PARTNERSHIPS.—A covered health depart2 ment that receives a grant under this section may 

3 develop a partnership with entities and individuals in 

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

5 government involved to carry out the activities under 

6 paragraph (3), including— 

7 ‘‘(A) a health care provider, which may in8 clude a pediatrician, pediatric nurse practi9 tioner, family physician, internal medicine phy10 sician, or primary care provider; 

11 ‘‘(B) a school nurse; 

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; or 

20 ‘‘(iii) individuals with a limited pro21 ficiency in the English language; 

22 ‘‘(D) a faith-based organization; 

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1 munizations for older adults may be provided or 

2 promoted by the staff of such facility or center; 

3 ‘‘(F) a vaccine coalition; 

4 ‘‘(G) a pediatric hospital; 

5 ‘‘(H) a pharmacy; 

6 ‘‘(I) a kindergarten, elementary, or sec7 ondary school; or 

8 ‘‘(J) an institution of higher education. 

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

10 after the date on which a covered health department 

11 receives a grant under this subsection, the covered 

12 health department shall submit to the Secretary an 

13 evaluation on the effectiveness of the activities car14 ried out using such funds to increase the rate of rec15 ommended immunizations. 

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

17 years after the date of the enactment of this sub18 section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a re19 port that includes— 

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

21 the activities under paragraph (3) to increase 

22 the rate of recommended immunizations, based 

23 on the evaluations submitted pursuant to para24 graph (6); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) recommendations to increase the rate 

2 of recommended immunizations, including rec3 ommendations with respect to any public health 

4 emergency that occurs in the future. 

5 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

6 ‘‘(A) COVERED HEALTH DEPARTMENT.— 

7 The term ‘covered health department’ means 

8 the public health department of a State, local, 

9 or Tribal government. 

10 ‘‘(B) COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMER11 GENCY.—The term ‘COVID–19 public health 

12 emergency’ means the public health emergency 

13 declared by the Secretary of Health and 

14 Human Services under section 319 of this Act 

15 on January 31, 2020, with respect to COVID– 

16 19. 

17 ‘‘(C) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU18 CATION.—The term ‘institution of higher edu19 cation’ has the meaning given that term in sec20 tion 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

21 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

22 ‘‘(D) RECOMMENDED IMMUNIZATIONS.— 

23 The term ‘recommended immunizations’ means 

24 immunizations recommended by the Advisory 


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1 Committee on Immunization Practices of the 

2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

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 in19 volved.’’. 

20 SEC. 3. COVID–19 VACCINE GUIDANCE. 

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

22 date of enactment of this section, the Director of the Cen23 ters for Disease Control and Prevention (in this section 

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

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1 ters for Medicare & Medicaid Services, shall develop and 

2 distribute to health care providers and State education 

3 agencies guidance to provide health counseling services 

4 with respect to a vaccine licensed under section 351 of 

5 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 262) for the pre6 vention, mitigation, or treatment of COVID–19. 

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

8 subsection (a) shall— 

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

10 and 

11 (2) include information that is culturally appro12 priate. 

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

14 and distribute, as appropriate, the guidance developed 

15 pursuant to subsection (a). 

16 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

17 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

18 $2,500,000 to remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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