September 22, 2022
The Honorable Patrick Leahy
Chair
Senate Appropriations Committee
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Rosa DeLauro
Chair
House Appropriations Committee
Washington, D.C. 20515
The Honorable Richard Shelby
Vice Chairman
Senate Appropriations Committee
Washington D.C. 20510
The Honorable Kay Granger
Ranking Member
House Appropriations Committee
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Chairman Leahy and DeLauro, Vice Chairman Shelby, and Ranking Member Granger:
As members of the Adult Vaccine Access Coalition (AVAC), we write to express our support for inclusion of COVID-19 and Monkeypox supplemental funding as anomalies to the Fiscal Year 23 Continuing Resolution (CR). These funds are vital to the Fall campaign for COVID-19 booster shots, to ease the transition to commercial coverage for COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics, as well as, near term monkeypox vaccination and response efforts.
AVAC consists of over 70 organizational leaders in health and public health that are committed to addressing the range of barriers to adult immunization and to raising awareness of the importance of adult immunization. AVAC works towards common legislative and regulatory solutions that will strengthen and enhance access to adult immunization across the health care system. Our priorities and objectives are driven by a consensus process with the goal of enabling the range of stakeholders to have a voice in the effort to improve access to and utilization of adult immunizations.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed serious gaps in our nation’s public health and immunization infrastructure. Since then, there has been a robust commitment to strengthen our immunization infrastructure, workforce, and data systems. While the United States has made tremendous strides in the fight against COVID-19, we cannot neglect the systems and workforce that are vital to future pandemic and outbreak response as well as to general infectious disease prevention activities. As our nation transitions to a new phase of the pandemic, one aimed at responding to new COVID-19 variants as they emerge and preparing for future pandemics, we must also work to ensure that individuals are up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines, boosters, and receive other recommended vaccines that may have been missed during the pandemic. In order to ensure a smooth and successful transition to commercial management of COVID-19 vaccinations, as well as an effective response to the monkey pox outbreak, financial resources are needed in the short term to support state and local vaccination efforts.
Immunizations are a highly cost-effective form of preventive medicine that saves lives by protecting the health and wellbeing of individuals and families in communities nationwide. Over the last decade, advancements in technology, policy, and infrastructure have strengthened the immunization landscape. Vaccines have always been one of greatest public health achievements, but the swift and remarkable development of vaccines in response to the pandemic, helped protect millions of Americans who were most vulnerable to the serious and deadly effect of COVID-19. Similarly, the current monkeypox outbreak is currently testing out ability to rapidly deploy vaccines and therapeutics before it becomes endemic. These important efforts can only succeed with sufficient resources.
Thank you for your consideration during this critical time and we look forward to supporting Congress during the CR and in its work to finalize the fiscal year 2023 process.
Sincerely,
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Immunization Registry Association
Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF)
Association of Immunization Managers
Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs
BIO
HealthyWomen
Infectious Diseases Society of America
National Association of County and City Health Officials
National Council of Urban Indian Health
STChealth
The AIDS Institute
The Gerontological Society of America
Trust for America’s Health
UnidosUS
Vaccinate Your Family