IMPROVING AWARENESS OF DISEASE PREVENTION.

SEC. 311. IMPROVING AWARENESS OF DISEASE PREVENTION. (a) In General.—The Public Health Service Act is amended by striking section 313 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 245) and inserting the following: “SEC. 313. [42 U.S.C. 245] PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN ON THE IMPORTANCE OF VACCINATIONS “(a) In General.—The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and in coordination with other offices and agencies, as appropriate, shall award competitive grants or contracts to one or more public or private entities to carry out a national, evidence-based campaign to increase awareness and knowledge of the safety and effectiveness of vaccines for the prevention and control of diseases, combat misinformation about vaccines, and disseminate scientific and evidence-based vaccine-related information, with the goal of increasing rates of vaccination across all ages, as applicable, particularly in communities with low rates of vaccination, to reduce and eliminate vaccine-preventable diseases. “(b) Consultation.—In carrying out the campaign under this section, the Secretary shall consult with appropriate public health and medical experts, including the National Academy of Medicine and medical and public health associations and nonprofit organizations, in the development, implementation, and evaluation of the evidence-based public awareness campaign. “(c) Requirements.—The campaign under this section shall— “(1) be a nationwide, evidence-based media and public engagement initiative; “(2) include the development of resources for communities with low rates of vaccination, including culturally and linguistically appropriate resources, as applicable; “(3) include the dissemination of vaccine information and communication resources to public health departments, health care providers, and health care facilities, including such providers and facilities that provide prenatal and pediatric care; “(4) be complementary to, and coordinated with, any other Federal, State, local, or Tribal efforts, as appropriate; and “(5) assess the effectiveness of communication strategies to increase rates of vaccination. “(d) Additional Activities.—The campaign under this section may— “(1) include the use of television, radio, the internet, and other media and telecommunications technologies; “(2) include the use of in-person activities; “(3) be focused to address specific needs of communities and populations with low rates of vaccination; and “(4) include the dissemination of scientific and evidence-based vaccine-related information, such as— “(A) advancements in evidence-based research related to diseases that may be prevented by vaccines and vaccine development; “(B) information on vaccinations for individuals and communities, including individuals for whom vaccines are not recommended by the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, and the effects of low vaccination rates within a community on such individuals; “(C) information on diseases that may be prevented by vaccines; and “(D) information on vaccine safety and the systems in place to monitor vaccine safety. “(e) Evaluation.—The Secretary shall— “(1) establish benchmarks and metrics to quantitatively measure and evaluate the awareness campaign under this section; “(2) conduct qualitative assessments regarding the awareness campaign under this section; and “(3) prepare and submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives an evaluation of the awareness campaign under this section. “(f) Supplement Not Supplant.—Funds appropriated under this section shall be used to supplement and not supplant other Federal, State, and local public funds provided for activities described in this section. “(g) Authorization of Appropriations.—There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section and subsections (k) and (n) of section 317, $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025.” . (b) Grants to Address Vaccine-preventable Diseases.—Section 317 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b) is amended— (1) in subsection (k)(1)— (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking “; and” and inserting a semicolon; (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period and inserting a semicolon; and (C) by adding at the end the following: “(E) planning, implementation, and evaluation of activities to address vaccine-preventable diseases, including activities to— “(i) identify communities at high risk of outbreaks related to vaccine-preventable diseases, including through improved data collection and analysis; “(ii) pilot innovative approaches to improve vaccination rates in communities and among populations with low rates of vaccination; “(iii) reduce barriers to accessing vaccines and evidence-based information about the health effects of vaccines; “(iv) partner with community organizations and health care providers to develop and deliver evidence-based interventions, including culturally and linguistically appropriate interventions, to increase vaccination rates; “(v) improve delivery of evidence-based vaccine-related information to parents and others; and “(vi) improve the ability of State, local, Tribal, and territorial public health departments to engage communities at high risk for outbreaks related to vaccine-preventable diseases, including, as appropriate, with local educational agencies, as defined in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; and “(F) research related to strategies for improving awareness of scientific and evidence-based vaccine-related information, including for communities with low rates of vaccination, in order to understand barriers to vaccination, improve vaccination rates, and assess the public health outcomes of such strategies.” ; and (2) by adding at the end the following: “(n) Vaccination Data.—The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall expand and enhance, and, as appropriate, establish and improve, programs and conduct activities to collect, monitor, and analyze vaccination coverage data to assess levels of protection from vaccine-preventable diseases, including by assessing factors contributing to underutilization of vaccines and variations of such factors, and identifying communities at high risk of outbreaks associated with vaccine-preventable diseases.” . (c) Supplemental Grant Funds.—Section 330(d)(1) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b) is amended— (1) in subparagraph (F), by striking “and” at the end; (2) in subparagraph (G), by striking the period and inserting “; and”; and (3) by adding at the end the following: “(H) improving access to recommended immunizations.” . (d) Update of 2015 NVAC Report.—The National Vaccine Advisory Committee established under section 2105 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300aa-5) shall, as appropriate, update the report entitled, “Assessing the State of Vaccine Confidence in the United States: Recommendations from the National Vaccine Advisory Committee”, approved by the National Vaccine Advisory Committee on June 10, 2015, with respect to factors affecting childhood vaccination.