Guthrie introduces bill to help increase immunization rates

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brett-guthrie-04-02

Earlier this week, Congressman Brett Guthrie, along with several other U.S. Representatives and doctors, introduced the VACCINES Act, a bipartisan bill that will help increase immunization rates across the country and prevent future outbreaks of contagious, deadly diseases.

“Vaccines are vital for protecting our communities, but sadly, misinformation has led some to believe that they are not safe,” Guthrie said. “With over 800 confirmed cases of measles in our country this year, we need to reverse course and help parents get the right information about vaccines. I was proud to introduce the VACCINES Act, which will promote vaccine safety and help prevent future outbreaks.”

The Vaccine Awareness Campaign to Champion Immunization Nationally and Enhance Safety (VACCINES) Act would give the Center for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) resources to address barriers to immunization.

Under the VACCINES Act, the CDC would also be able to better track where there are changes in vaccine confidence or refusal rates.

With this information, the CDC would be able to predict where an outbreak might occur because of low immunization rates and target vaccine education campaigns to those areas before an outbreak occurs.

By Congressman Brett Guthrie’s office