§245 Public awareness campaign on the importance of vaccinations

Summary

Requires the Secretary, through the CDC director, to give competitive grants or contracts to public or private groups to run a national, evidence-based campaign that explains vaccine safety and effectiveness, fights false information, and shares scientific vaccine facts to raise vaccination rates, especially in communities with low coverage. The Secretary must work with health and medical experts, including the National Academy of Medicine and professional and nonprofit groups, when making and checking the campaign. The campaign must use media and public outreach nationwide, make culturally and language-appropriate resources for low-vaccination communities, share materials with health departments and care providers (including prenatal and pediatric care), coordinate with other government efforts, and measure how well communication strategies increase vaccinations. It may use TV, radio, internet, in-person events, and share information about vaccine research, preventable diseases, groups who cannot be vaccinated, and vaccine safety monitoring. The Secretary must set benchmarks, do qualitative reviews, and send an evaluation to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives. Funds must add to, not replace, other public funding. Congress authorized $15,000,000 each year for fiscal years 2021 through 2025 to carry out this work and related parts of another section.