I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1400 

To establish and support public awareness campaigns to address COVID– 

19-related health disparities and promote vaccination. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2021 

Mr. CA ́RDENAS (for himself and Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FEDERAL PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS TO AD7 DRESS COVID–19-RELATED HEALTH DISPARI8 TIES AND PROMOTE VACCINATION. 

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

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1 tion and in coordination with the White House COVID– 

2 19 Health Equity Task Force, the Office of Minority 

3 Health of the Department of Health and Human Services, 

4 the Surgeon General, the National Vaccine Program Of5 fice, and, as appropriate, in coordination with the relevant 

6 Offices of Minority Health in the Department of Health 

7 and Human Services, the National Institute on Minority 

8 Health and Health Disparities, the Indian Health Service, 

9 and other relevant Federal offices and agencies, shall, sub10 ject to the availability of funding, develop and implement 

11 public awareness campaigns about COVID–19 vaccination 

12 and other relevant information about COVID–19 directed 

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

14 populations that have experienced health disparities dur15 ing the COVID–19 public health emergency related to 

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

17 death. 

18 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The public awareness cam19 paigns under this section shall— 

20 (1) prioritize communities where the greatest 

21 health disparities have been identified with respect 

22 to rates of vaccination, testing, infection, hospitaliza23 tion, and death related to COVID–19, with a focus 

24 on disparities affecting racial and ethnic minority, 

25 rural, and other vulnerable populations; 


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

2 appropriate, multilingual; 

3 (3) use print, radio, or internet media, includ4 ing partnerships with social media influencers and 

5 thought leaders, or other forms of public commu6 nication, including local, independent, or community7 based written news and electronic publications; and 

8 (4) provide information based on scientific evi9 dence, dispel misinformation, and promote trans10 parency regarding— 

11 (A) COVID–19 vaccination, which may in12 clude information regarding— 

13 (i) the effects of COVID–19 vaccina14 tion on disease transmission and severity, 

15 and the associated health impacts for indi16 viduals, communities, or the Nation; 

17 (ii) the effects of COVID–19 vaccina18 tion on the economic health of communities 

19 or the Nation; 

20 (iii) the current or upcoming avail21 ability of COVID–19 vaccination with no 

22 cost-sharing for most United States resi23 dents; 

24 (iv) locations where COVID–19 vac25 cinations are or will be available; 


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1 (v) any relevant information regarding 

2 vaccination allocation or populations that 

3 are prioritized for vaccination in the re4 gion; and 

5 (vi) any other information regarding 

6 COVID–19 vaccination, as the Secretary 

7 determines appropriate; 

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

9 information regarding— 

10 (i) the effects of COVID–19 testing 

11 on disease transmission; 

12 (ii) the availability of COVID–19 test13 ing with no cost-sharing for most United 

14 States residents; and 

15 (iii) locations where COVID–19 test16 ing is available in the region; 

17 (C) the actions that individuals may take 

18 to protect themselves from COVID–19, which 

19 may include masking and social distancing; or 

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

21 as the Secretary determines appropriate. 

22 (c) COORDINATION.—The public awareness cam23 paigns under this section shall be complementary to, and 

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


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1 local efforts, including the grant program described in sec2 tion 3, as appropriate. 

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

4 after the date on which amounts are made available to 

5 the Secretary under this section, the Secretary shall sub6 mit to Congress a report on how such funds have been 

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

8 remaining funds within the next 45 days. 

9 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

10 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

11 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2021. 

12 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM FOR PUBLIC AWARENESS CAM13 PAIGNS TO ADDRESS COVID–19-RELATED 

14 HEALTH DISPARITIES AND PROMOTE VAC15 CINATION. 

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

17 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven18 tion and in coordination with the White House COVID– 

19 19 Health Equity Task Force, the Office of Minority 

20 Health of the Department of Health and Human Services, 

21 the Surgeon General, the National Vaccine Program Of22 fice, and, as appropriate, in coordination with the relevant 

23 Offices of Minority Health in the Department of Health 

24 and Human Services, the National Institute on Minority 

25 Health and Health Disparities, the Indian Health Service, 


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1 and other relevant Federal offices and agencies, shall 

2 award competitive grants to State, Tribal, and territorial 

3 health departments to support public awareness cam4 paigns about COVID–19 directed at racial and ethnic mi5 nority, rural, and other vulnerable populations that have 

6 experienced health disparities during the COVID–19 pub7 lic health emergency related to rates of vaccination, test8 ing, infection, hospitalization, and death. 

9 (b) ELIGIBLE LOCAL ENTITIES.—Recipients of 

10 grants under this section may disseminate the grant fund11 ing to eligible local entities, which may include local health 

12 departments, nonprofit community-based organizations, 

13 Tribal organizations, urban Indian organizations, health 

14 care providers, institutions of higher education, and non15 profit faith-based organizations, to develop and implement 

16 the public awareness campaigns described in subsection 

17 (a). 

18 (c) PROTOTYPES.—The Secretary shall develop pro19 totype campaign materials and make such materials avail20 able on the internet website of the Department of Health 

21 and Human Services for grant recipients and eligible local 

22 entities to adapt as needed to meet the needs of local com23 munities. 

24 (d) REQUIREMENTS.—The public awareness cam25 paigns under this section shall— 


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1 (1) prioritize communities where the greatest 

2 health disparities have been identified with respect 

3 to rates of vaccination, testing, infection, hospitaliza4 tion, and death related to COVID–19, with a focus 

5 on disparities affecting racial and ethnic minority, 

6 rural, and other vulnerable populations; 

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

8 appropriate, multilingual; 

9 (3) use print, radio, or internet media, includ10 ing partnerships with social media influencers and 

11 thought leaders, or other forms of public commu12 nication, including local, independent, or community13 based written news and electronic publications; and 

14 (4) provide information based on scientific evi15 dence, dispel misinformation, and promote trans16 parency regarding— 

17 (A) COVID–19 vaccination, which may in18 clude information regarding— 

19 (i) the effects of COVID–19 vaccina20 tion on disease transmission and severity, 

21 and the associated health impacts for indi22 viduals, communities, or the Nation; 

23 (ii) the effects of COVID–19 vaccina24 tion on the economic health of communities 

25 or the Nation; 


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1 (iii) the current or upcoming avail2 ability of COVID–19 vaccination with no 

3 cost-sharing for most United States resi4 dents; 

5 (iv) locations where COVID–19 vac6 cinations are or will be available; 

7 (v) any relevant information regarding 

8 vaccination allocation or populations that 

9 are prioritized for vaccination in the re10 gion; and 

11 (vi) any other information regarding 

12 COVID–19 vaccination, as the Secretary 

13 determines appropriate; 

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

15 information regarding— 

16 (i) the effects of COVID–19 testing 

17 on disease transmission; 

18 (ii) the availability of COVID–19 test19 ing with no cost-sharing for most United 

20 States residents; and 

21 (iii) locations where COVID–19 test22 ing is available in the region; 

23 (C) the actions that individuals may take 

24 to protect themselves from COVID–19, which 

25 may include masking and social distancing; or 


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

2 as the Secretary determines appropriate. 

3 (e) COORDINATION.—The public health campaigns 

4 supported by grants awarded under this section shall be 

5 complementary to, and coordinated with, any other Fed6 eral, State, or local efforts, including the public awareness 

7 campaigns described in section 2, as appropriate. 

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

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

10 of enactment of this Act. 

11 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

12 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

13 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 and $25,000,000 for fis14 cal year 2022. 

15 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act— 

17 (1) the term ‘‘COVID–19 public health emer18 gency’’ means the public health emergency first de19 clared by the Secretary of Health and Human Serv20 ices under section 319 of the Public Health Service 

21 Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020, with re22 spect to COVID–19; 

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

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1 nority group’’ in section 1707(g) of the Public 

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

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

4 Health in the Department of Health and Human 

5 Services’’ may include— 

6 (A) the Office of Extramural Research, 

7 Education, and Priority Populations of the 

8 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 

9 (B) the Office of Minority Health and 

10 Health Equity of the Centers for Disease Con11 trol and Prevention; 

12 (C) the Office of Minority Health of the 

13 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; 

14 (D) the Office of Minority Health and 

15 Health Equity of the Food and Drug Adminis16 tration; 

17 (E) the Office of Health Equity of the 

18 Health Resources and Services Administration; 

19 and 

20 (F) the Office of Behavioral Health Equity 

21 of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 

22 Services Administration; 

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

24 of Health and Human Services; 


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

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

3 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu4 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304); and 

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

6 the meaning given the term in section 4 of the In7 dian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 

8 1603). 

Æ 


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