Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill that will help to improve adult vaccination rates throughout this country. I am thankful to Senators Capito, Whitehouse, and Scott of South Carolina…
Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill that will help to improve adult vaccination rates throughout this country. I am thankful to Senators Capito, Whitehouse, and Scott of South Carolina for their partnership on this important legislation.
Before there were vaccines, nearly everyone got measles, and diseases like whooping cough, polio, and rubella were commonplace among children and adults. Luckily for us, vaccines are now a cornerstone of our nation's disease prevention efforts. They have a demonstrated record limiting the spread of debilitating and potentially deadly conditions-- from measles to flu to pneumonia--saving lives and reducing health care costs. A successful vaccination campaign is also essential to fully reopening society and preventing future COVID-19 outbreaks.
Unfortunately, adult vaccines rates are not nearly as high as they could and should be. Prior to the pandemic, more than 50,000 adults per year died from vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States, while millions more became ill as a result, causing them to miss work and leaving some unable to care for those who depend on them. The health care costs associated with low adult vaccine rates are enormous--each year, the U.S. spends $15 billion treating Medicare beneficiaries alone for these vaccine-preventable diseases.
Because the immune system deteriorates as people age, adults 50 and over are especially susceptible to many vaccine-preventable diseases and account for a disproportionate number of deaths and illnesses from these disease. As Americans age, the impact of these diseases and their complications is likely to grow--unless we quickly and substantially improve use of and access to adult vaccines, especially among Medicare beneficiaries.
By increasing vaccine access, we can save thousands of lives and potentially billions of dollars. Unfortunately, older adults seeking access to and coverage for vaccines encounter many barriers. They may not know where or how to get vaccinated and cost can be an obstacle for both patients and providers.
That's why we've introduced the Protecting Seniors Through Immunization Act of 2021. The bill improves vaccine information and education for Medicare beneficiaries, including the risks and consequences of vaccine-preventable disease, and ensures older adults know what vaccines are right for them at the right time.
The bill also eliminates the cost burden of vaccines on our nation's aging population. Vaccines are available for free under private insurance, but under Medicare, vaccine coverage is split between Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D. Seniors can access vaccines covered under Part B--such as flu, pneumonia and Hepatitis--with no cost-sharing. However, vaccines covered under Part D, such as shingles (herpes zoster) and pertussis (Tdap), can include a wide range of cost- sharing requirements. For seniors, many of whom live on fixed incomes such as Social Security benefits, these additional costs may preclude them from being vaccinated.
A 2018 study of Tdap and herpes zoster vaccine claims under Medicare Part D demonstrated that higher out-of-pocket cost-sharing is associated with higher rates of cancelled vaccination claims--in other words, when the costs of vaccines are too high, seniors can't or won't get them. The study found that cost-sharing of $51 or greater is associated with a 2 to 2.7-times greater rate of cancelled vaccination claims compared with $0 cost-sharing.
There are more than 300,000 cases of shingles reported in the U.S. each year. About 50 percent of people who experience shingles will have postherpetic neuralgia, a debilitating, painful, and long-lasting disease. This is just one example of the types of conditions that vaccines can prevent.
We have a lot of room for improvement for uptake of these vaccines. Passing the Protecting Seniors Through Immunization Act of 2021 will help us to do so. By reducing cost barriers and improving access and raising awareness, we can implement these vaccines better and set the stage for healthy aging.
Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the COVID-19 Disinformation Research and Reporting Act. I thank Representative Jennifer Wexton for working with me on this important piece of legislation, which will help shine a light on the ways social media and other online platforms amplify and spread misinformation and disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic to the detriment of public health. I also thank my colleagues--Senators Booker, Blumenthal, Klobuchar, Warren, and Reed--for cosponsoring this bill.
As I stand here today nearly 30 million Americans have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and over 540,000 have died from the virus.
The numbers alone are staggering. But when you hear and read the personal stories of individuals and families who are suffering, it is truly tragic. It makes you mournful that for many of the individuals who died, they died alone in the absence of their loved ones.
While many things contributed to this massive loss of life, I am here to talk about one in particular: the insidious spread of coronavirus- related misinformation and disinformation online. This ``infodemic'' has undercut the efforts of public health officials at every turn, and threatens to prolong the virus's impact on the health of our people and economy long after a safe and effective vaccine is available.
The online spread of misinformation about public health is nothing new.
Claims that the 2014 Ebola epidemic was a form of population control spread across social media. Anti-vaccination groups have long used Facebook and YouTube to share junk science and recruit new members.
However, social media platforms' response to coronavirus was supposed to be different. Early in the pandemic, the major social media platforms announced new measures to combat misinformation while making sure users had access to accurate, authoritative information about the virus. Facebook added a COVID-19 Information Center to the tops of users' News Feeds and announced it would remove misinformation that could contribute to imminent physical harm. Twitter verified accounts that provided credible updates on the pandemic and committed to removing false or misleading content that contradicted information from health authorities. YouTube began directing users who searched for COVID-related information to the WHO or other health authorities and banned false information contradicting health authorities on treatment, prevention, diagnosis, or transmission of COVID-19.
Unfortunately, these measure proved lacking and insufficient. The conspiracy film Plandemic was viewed more than 8 million times across social media platforms, and the sequel was viewed over 100,000 times on YouTube during its first week alone. An August 2020 study by advocacy group Avaaz found that misinformation about vaccines and other health topics had been viewed an estimated 3.8 billion times on Facebook in the previous year--four times more than factual, authoritative content from institutions like the WHO and CDC. The study found that only 16% of previously fact-checked health misinformation on Facebook carried a warning label.
Spend even a small amount of time on the internet or social media and you will find rampant misinformation and conspiracy theories about COVID-19. Some examples of these falsehoods include: Bill Gates created the virus to use a vaccine as cover to implant microchips into Americans. No, actually, Dr. Fauci created the coronavirus to seize political power. You shouldn't wear a mask to protect against the coronavirus, because wearing a mask actually weakens your immune system. And do not worry if you catch the coronavirus--you can treat it by drinking bleach.
These claims might seem ridiculous, but they have real word consequences. A study published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene found that 5,800 people had been hospitalized and at least 800 people died in the first three months of 2020 alone as a direct result of coronavirus-related misinformation. As recently as August, the Georgia Department of Health and the Texas Poison Control Center had to warn people not to drink bleach to treat COVID. A recent poll found that only 51 percent of people wear a facial covering in public, despite its proven efficacy in preventing the spread of COVID. And, perhaps must troubling, polls suggest that over 30% of the U.S. population will not get a COVID vaccine.
If we hope to get past the coronavirus and avoid similar public health crises in the future, we must understand where misinformation originates, how it spreads, and strategies to stop it.
This is exactly what the COVID-19 Disinformation Research and Reporting Act will do. It directs the National Science Foundation to partner with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a study on the spread of COVID-19-related disinformation and misinformation on the internet and social media platforms. This study will provide critical information on the roles disinformation and misinformation have played in the public response to COVID-19, including public acceptance of and demand for COVID-19 vaccines; the sources of COVID-19-related disinformation and misinformation and the ways it has influenced the public debate; the role social media plays in the disseminating and promoting this disinformation and misinformation; and potential strategies for combatting misinformation and disinformation in the future.
This information will not stop the next pandemic from coming. And, it will not force the next Administration to take it seriously and follow the advice of doctors and scientists. But it can give us the knowledge and tools necessary to avoid another infodemic and ensure the American public receives accurate and authoritative information when it is most needed.
I therefore encourage my colleagues to support the COVID-19 Disinformation Research and Reporting Act.
