II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1619 

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

to raise awareness of the importance of, and combat misinformation 

about, vaccines in order to increase vaccination rates. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 22, 2019 

Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. ROBERTS, and Ms. DUCKWORTH) 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 provide for 

a national campaign to raise awareness of the importance 

of, and combat misinformation about, vaccines in order 

to increase vaccination rates. 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVING AWARENESS OF DISEASE PREVENTION. 

2 The Public Health Service Act is amended by striking 

3 section 313 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 245) and inserting 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 313. PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN ON THE IMPOR6 TANCE OF VACCINATIONS. 

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

8 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre9 vention and in coordination with other offices and agen10 cies, as appropriate, shall award competitive grants to one 

11 or more public or private entities to carry out a national, 

12 evidence-based campaign to increase awareness of vaccines 

13 for the prevention and control of diseases, combat misin14 formation about vaccines, and disseminate scientific and 

15 evidence-based, vaccine-related information, with the goal 

16 of increasing rates of vaccination across all ages, as appli17 cable, particularly in communities with low rates of vac18 cination. 

19 ‘‘(b) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the campaign 

20 under this section, the Secretary shall consult with appro21 priate public health and medical experts, including the Na22 tional Academy of Medicine and medical and public health 

23 associations and nonprofit organizations, in the develop24 ment, implementation, and evaluation of the evidence25 based public awareness campaign. 


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1 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.—The campaign under this sec2 tion— 

3 ‘‘(1) shall be a national, evidence-based initia4 tive; 

5 ‘‘(2) may include the use of television, radio, 

6 the internet, and other telecommunications tech7 nologies; 

8 ‘‘(3) may be focused to address specific needs 

9 of communities with low vaccination rates; 

10 ‘‘(4) shall include the development of resources 

11 for communities with low vaccination rates, includ12 ing culturally and linguistically appropriate re13 sources, as applicable; 

14 ‘‘(5) shall include the dissemination of vaccine 

15 information and communication resources to health 

16 care providers and health care facilities, including 

17 such providers and facilities that provide prenatal 

18 and pediatric care; 

19 ‘‘(6) shall be complementary to, and coordi20 nated with, any other Federal efforts and State ef21 forts, as appropriate; 

22 ‘‘(7) shall assess the effectiveness of commu23 nication strategies to increase vaccination rates; and 


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1 ‘‘(8) may include the dissemination of scientific 

2 and evidence-based vaccine-related information, such 

3 as— 

4 ‘‘(A) advancements in evidence-based re5 search related to diseases that may be pre6 vented by vaccines and vaccine development; 

7 ‘‘(B) information on vaccinations for indi8 viduals and communities, including individuals 

9 for whom vaccines are not recommended by the 

10 Advisory Committee for Immunization Prac11 tices, and the effects of low vaccination rates 

12 within a community on such individuals; 

13 ‘‘(C) information on diseases that may be 

14 prevented by vaccines; and 

15 ‘‘(D) information on vaccine safety and the 

16 systems in place to monitor vaccine safety. 

17 ‘‘(d) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) establish benchmarks and metrics to quan19 titatively measure and evaluate the awareness cam20 paign under this section; 

21 ‘‘(2) conduct qualitative assessments regarding 

22 the awareness campaign under this section; and 

23 ‘‘(3) prepare and submit to the Committee on 

24 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Sen25 ate and Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 


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1 House of Representatives an evaluation of the 

2 awareness campaign under this section. 

3 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

5 and section 317(k) such sums as may be necessary for 

6 fiscal years 2020 through 2024.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO ADDRESS VACCINE-PREVENTABLE DIS8 EASES. 

9 Section 317(k)(1) of the Public Health Service Act 

10 (42 U.S.C. 247b(k)(1)) is amended— 

11 (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

12 and inserting a semicolon; 

13 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 

14 and inserting a semicolon; and 

15 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(E) planning, implementation, and evaluation 

17 of activities to address vaccine-preventable diseases, 

18 including activities to— 

19 ‘‘(i) identify communities at high risk of 

20 outbreaks related to vaccine-preventable dis21 eases; 

22 ‘‘(ii) pilot innovative approaches to improve 

23 vaccination rates in communities with low rates 

24 of vaccination; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) reduce barriers to accessing vaccines 

2 and evidence-based information about the 

3 health effects of vaccines; 

4 ‘‘(iv) partner with community organiza5 tions and health care providers to develop and 

6 deliver evidence-based interventions to increase 

7 vaccination rates; and 

8 ‘‘(v) improve delivery of evidence-based 

9 vaccine-related information to parents and oth10 ers; and 

11 ‘‘(F) research related to strategies for improv12 ing awareness of scientific and evidence-based, vac13 cine-related information, including for communities 

14 with low vaccination rates, in order to understand 

15 barriers to vaccination, improve vaccination rates, 

16 and assess the public health outcomes of such strate17 gies.’’. 

Æ 


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