Audit of CDC's COVID-19 'Vaccinate with Confidence' Strategy

OBJECTIVE

HHS announced the availability of $1 billion in supplemental American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) (P.L. 117-2) funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to support its COVID-19 strategy, "Vaccinate with Confidence: Strategy to Reinforce Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccines," which includes building trust, empowering health care personnel, and engaging communities and individuals. CDC defines "vaccine confidence" as the belief that vaccines work, are safe, and are part of a trustworthy medical system. Strong confidence in COVID-19 vaccines within communities could lead to more adults, adolescents, and children getting vaccinated. From the $1 billion in supplemental funding, CDC awarded State, Tribal, local, and Territorial (STLT) recipients a combined $250 million for developing and implementing a vaccine confidence strategy, supporting efforts to build vaccine confidence, and conducting outreach to build trust in COVID-19 vaccines, the health care personnel who provide them, and the system that approves and distributes them. These funds may be used for television, radio, internet, and other media and communications technologies; used for in-person activities; be focused to address specific needs of communities and populations with low vaccination rates; and include the dissemination of scientific and evidence-based, vaccine-related information. For the first audit, we will determine how much of each STLT recipient's award had been expended at the time of our audit, identify the best practices used and potential barriers STLT recipients faced when spending the supplemental ARP funds, and determine whether CDC provided oversight to STLT recipients in developing and implementing a vaccine confidence strategy. For the second audit, we will determine whether select STLT recipients used supplemental ARP funding in accordance with Federal requirements and applicable award terms and conditions, and for underserved communities.

TIMELINE

• July 1, 2022
  Announced
• July 31, 2024
  Complete

  Audit of CDC's COVID-19 'Vaccinate with Confidence' Strategy has been marked as complete. Report Published

REPORT PUBLISHED

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