I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2862 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a national system 

for surveillance of vaccine rates, to authorize research on vaccine hesitancy, to increase public understanding of the benefits of immunizations, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2019 

Ms. SCHRIER (for herself, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. 

SCHRADER, and Mr. BILIRAKIS) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for 

a national system for surveillance of vaccine rates, to 

authorize research on vaccine hesitancy, to increase public understanding of the benefits of 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 ‘‘Vaccine Awareness 

5 Campaign to Champion Immunization Nationally and En6 hance Safety Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘VACCINES Act of 

7 2019’’. 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2862 IH

1 SEC. 2. VACCINE SURVEILLANCE AND RESEARCH. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 317 of the Public Health 

3 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b) is amended by adding at 

4 the end the following new subsection: 

5 ‘‘(n) VACCINE SURVEILLANCE AND RESEARCH.— 

6 ‘‘(1) SURVEILLANCE.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

8 through the Director of the Centers for Disease 

9 Control and Prevention, and in consultation 

10 with the National Vaccine Advisory Committee 

11 and the Director of the National Vaccine Pro12 gram, shall develop and deploy a national sys13 tem for surveillance of vaccination rates. 

14 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—The sur15 veillance system under subparagraph (A) may 

16 include the following: 

17 ‘‘(i) Use of immunization data avail18 able to the Centers for Disease Control 

19 and Prevention and its contractors. 

20 ‘‘(ii) Integration of data from existing 

21 systems— 

22 ‘‘(I) to measure vaccination con23 fidence over time; 

24 ‘‘(II) to understand variations 

25 across time and geography; and 

26 ‘‘(III) to measure vaccine refusal. 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2862 IH

1 ‘‘(C) USE OF DATA.—The Secretary may 

2 use data collected pursuant to the surveillance 

3 system under subparagraph (A) to predict and 

4 identify areas and communities where— 

5 ‘‘(i) vaccines are or will be underuti6 lized; 

7 ‘‘(ii) vaccine confidence is low or de8 creasing; or 

9 ‘‘(iii) misinformation about the safety 

10 of vaccines, not supported by scientific or 

11 medical evidence, has been directed in a 

12 targeted manner. 

13 ‘‘(D) CONSULTATION.—In developing the 

14 surveillance system under subparagraph (A), 

15 the Secretary shall consult with the National 

16 Academies to synthesize existing evidence and 

17 develop a standardized measurement of vaccine 

18 confidence. 

19 ‘‘(E) FUNDING.—There are authorized to 

20 be appropriated $15,000,000 for each of fiscal 

21 years 2020 through 2024 to carry out this 

22 paragraph. 

23 ‘‘(2) GRANTS FOR RESEARCH.—The Secretary 

24 may award grants for research— 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2862 IH

1 ‘‘(A) to improve the understanding of vac2 cine hesitancy; 

3 ‘‘(B) to improve understanding of health 

4 care provider attitudes and beliefs toward vac5 cination; and 

6 ‘‘(C) to develop effective strategies for ad7 dressing non-adherence to the safe and rec8 ommended use of vaccines and encouraging the 

9 safe and recommended use of vaccines.’’. 

10 (b) UPDATE OF 2015 NVAC REPORT.—The National 

11 Vaccine Advisory Committee shall— 

12 (1) assess the state of vaccine confidence in the 

13 United States; and 

14 (2) update the findings and recommendations in 

15 the report on this topic approved by the National 

16 Vaccine Advisory Committee on June 10, 2015. 

17 SEC. 3. PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN ON THE IMPOR18 TANCE OF VACCINATIONS. 

19 Section 317 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 247b), as amended by section 3, is further amend21 ed by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

22 ‘‘(o) PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN ON THE IMPOR23 TANCE OF VACCINATIONS.— 

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

25 through the Director of the Centers for Disease 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2862 IH

1 Control and Prevention, shall carry out a national 

2 campaign to increase awareness of the importance 

3 of, combat misinformation about, and increase rates 

4 of, vaccinations across the lifespan. 

5 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the cam6 paign under this subsection, the Secretary shall con7 sult with the National Academy of Medicine and na8 tionally recognized private entities, including medical 

9 and public health associations and nonprofit organi10 zations, to solicit advice on evidence-based informa11 tion for policy development and program develop12 ment, implementation, and evaluation. 

13 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—The campaign under 

14 this subsection— 

15 ‘‘(A) shall be an evidence-based media and 

16 public engagement initiative; 

17 ‘‘(B) shall be carried out through competi18 tively bid contracts awarded to one or more 

19 public or private entities; 

20 ‘‘(C) may include the use of television, 

21 radio, print, the internet, and other commercial 

22 marketing venues; 

23 ‘‘(D) may include the use of in-person pub24 lic communications; 

25 ‘‘(E) may be targeted to— 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2862 IH

1 ‘‘(i) specific groups and local needs of 

2 communities with high rates of unvaccinat3 ed individuals; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) areas or communities identified 

5 pursuant to subsection (n)(1)(C); 

6 ‘‘(F) shall include the development of cul7 turally and linguistically competent resources 

8 that may be tailored for communities with high 

9 rates of unvaccinated individuals; 

10 ‘‘(G) shall include the dissemination of 

11 vaccine information and vaccine communication 

12 resources to health care providers and health 

13 care facilities, including pharmacists, State and 

14 local public health departments, and health care 

15 providers and facilities that provide prenatal 

16 and pediatric care; 

17 ‘‘(H) may include the use of recognized 

18 trusted figures; 

19 ‘‘(I) shall be complementary to, and coordi20 nated with, any other Federal efforts; 

21 ‘‘(J) shall include message testing to iden22 tify culturally competent and effective messages 

23 for behavioral change; 

24 ‘‘(K) may include the dissemination of in25 formation highlighting— 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 2862 IH

1 ‘‘(i) advancements in research and 

2 vaccine development that have saved mil3 lions of individuals from death and dis4 ability from now-preventable diseases; 

5 ‘‘(ii) information on how individuals 

6 across the lifespan benefit from immuniza7 tions, including those who cannot be vac8 cinated and rely on community immunity; 

9 ‘‘(iii) information on the dangers of 

10 not being vaccinated, including the poten11 tial for infectious disease outbreaks within 

12 communities; and 

13 ‘‘(iv) information on vaccine safety 

14 and the systems in place to monitor vac15 cine safety; 

16 ‘‘(L) shall include the award of grants to 

17 State, local, and tribal public health depart18 ments— 

19 ‘‘(i) to identify and prioritize engage20 ment with communities with high rates of 

21 unvaccinated individuals; 

22 ‘‘(ii) to engage communities with high 

23 rates of unvaccinated individuals in under24 standing the challenges to increasing vac25 cination rates in the respective commuVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2862.IH H2862

pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 2862 IH

1 nities and developing effective strategies 

2 (including through formative research or 

3 focus groups) to increase such rates; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) to encourage partnerships with 

5 community organizations and health care 

6 providers to develop and deliver evidence 

7 based interventions to increase vaccination 

8 rates; and 

9 ‘‘(M) may include the development and dis10 semination of evidence-based scientific curricula 

11 for use in public elementary schools and sec12 ondary schools (as defined in section 8101 of 

13 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

14 of 1965) on infectious disease outbreaks and 

15 how they can be prevented and controlled. 

16 ‘‘(4) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) establish baseline measures and 

18 benchmarks to quantitatively evaluate the im19 pact of the campaign under this subsection; 

20 ‘‘(B) conduct qualitative assessments re21 garding the effectiveness of strategies employed 

22 under this subsection; and 

23 ‘‘(C) prepare and submit to the Committee 

24 on Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep25 resentatives and the Committee on Health, 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 2862 IH

1 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate 

2 an evaluation of the campaign. 

3 ‘‘(5) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be ap4 propriated $6,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 

5 through 2024 to carry out this subsection.’’. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS