{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-blumenthal-booker-democratic-senators-urge-robust-funding-for-state-and-local-governments-to-distribute-covid-19-vaccines", "Murphy, Blumenthal, Booker, Democratic Senators Urge Robust Funding For State And Local Governments To Distribute COVID-19 VaccinesRead More", "2020-11-24", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "House", "CT", "Christopher Murphy", "M001169", "www.murphy.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTONThis week, U.S. Senators\r\nChris Murphy (D-Conn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and 14 of their\r\nSenate colleagues joined a\r\nletter led by U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) urging congressional leaders to provide robust funding to\r\nensure the swift distribution of COVID-19 vaccines as a part of any upcoming\r\nlegislation to address the pandemic. With the recent news of at least one\r\nCOVID-19 vaccine possibly being available to be distributed within the next\r\nmonth, many state and local governments lack the proper funding that is needed\r\nto distribute the vaccine. According to arecent lettersent by the Association of State and\r\nTerritorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the Association of Immunization\r\nManagers (AIM) to congressional leaders, a minimum of $8.4 billion is needed to\r\ndistribute COVID-19 vaccines nationwide. Some experts even estimated that $10\r\nbillion is required in order to fundcommunity vaccination clinicsalone. For months, as states, territories,\r\nIndian Tribes, and other localities have been responding to COVID-19 and\r\nworking tirelessly to keep their residents safe, they have also been preparing\r\nto undertake one of the largest vaccination efforts in our nation's history,the\r\nsenators wrote. To accomplish this, jurisdictions must recruit and train\r\nthousands of health care workers, modernize data systems and registries, stand\r\nup vaccination sites, develop communications and educational materials, and\r\nbuild and support the infrastructure needed to distribute multiple types and\r\ndoses of COVID-19 vaccines, among other activities. To ensure that jurisdictions\r\nthroughout the country are well-positioned to immediately, efficiently, and\r\nequitably distribute COVID-19 vaccines as they become available, we\r\nrespectfully request that any upcoming legislation to address the pandemic\r\ninclude robust funding for COVID-19 vaccine distribution efforts,the\r\nsenators concluded. This letter was also signed by\r\nSenatorsMichael Bennet (D-Col.), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Jeanne Shaheen\r\n(D-N.H.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Elizabeth Warren\r\n(D-Mass.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Tammy Duckworth\r\n(D-Ill.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tammy Baldwin\r\n(D-Wis.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Tom Carper (D-Del.). Full text of the letter is available here\r\nand below. Dear Leader McConnell, Leader Schumer,\r\nSpeaker Pelosi, and Leader McCarthy: As Congress continues to work on\r\nlegislation to address the COVID-19 pandemic, we request that you include\r\nrobust funding for COVID-19 vaccine distribution efforts. With at least one\r\nCOVID-19 vaccine candidate likely to be available before or around the new\r\nyear, this funding is urgently needed to ensure that Americans have swift\r\naccess to these vaccines. For months, as states, territories,\r\nIndian Tribes, and other localities have been responding to COVID-19 and\r\nworking tirelessly to keep their residents safe, they have also been preparing\r\nto undertake one of the largest vaccination efforts in our nation's history. To\r\naccomplish this, jurisdictions must recruit and train thousands of health care\r\nworkers, modernize data systems and registries, stand up vaccination sites,\r\ndevelop communications and educational materials, and build and support the\r\ninfrastructure needed to distribute multiple types and doses of COVID-19\r\nvaccines, among other activities. In addition to facilitating vaccine\r\ndistribution, these activities are also important for building vaccine\r\nconfidence, particularly as recent data indicates that more than 40 percent of\r\nAmericans would not be willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The Department of Health and Human\r\nServices intends to cover many of the costs associated with COVID-19 vaccines,\r\nincluding the vaccines themselves and ancillary supplies, during the public\r\nhealth emergency, and so far, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\r\n(CDC) has distributed $200 million to jurisdictions for COVID-19 vaccination\r\nefforts and plans to distribute an additional $140 million, according to press\r\nreports. Jurisdictions need significant additional funding to successfully\r\nconduct the activities described above and in the interim COVID-19 vaccination\r\nplans that they submitted to the CDC last month. In September, CDC Director\r\nRobert Redfield acknowledged that the agency does not currently have the\r\nresources needed for vaccine distribution and that, These jurisdictions are\r\nnot going to be able to put these plans in place without resources. Dedicated\r\nfunding for COVID-19 vaccine distribution is especially critical now as\r\njurisdictions are facing historic budget shortfalls amid the pandemic and\r\nfunding for health departments had been inadequate even before the COVID-19\r\npandemic began. Public health experts have estimated\r\nthat a bare minimum of $8.4 billion is needed for COVID19 vaccine distribution\r\nefforts. This includes $3 billion for workforce training and recruitment; $1.2\r\nbillion for cold chain management; $1 billion for improvements to vaccination\r\ninfrastructure; $700 million for vaccine coverage, effectiveness, evaluation,\r\nand safety reporting; and $500 million for communications efforts, including\r\nbuilding vaccine confidence, combatting misinformation, and conducting outreach\r\nto priority populations. Other experts have estimated that $10 billion is\r\nneeded to fund community vaccination clinics alone. To ensure that jurisdictions\r\nthroughout the country are well-positioned to immediately, efficiently, and\r\nequitably distribute COVID-19 vaccines as they become available, we\r\nrespectfully request that any upcoming legislation to address the pandemic\r\ninclude robust funding for COVID-19 vaccine distribution efforts. Thank you for\r\nyour serious consideration of this request, and we look forward to continuing\r\nto work with you on this important issue. Sincerely, ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-blumenthal-booker-democratic-senators-urge-robust-funding-for-state-and-local-governments-to-distribute-covid-19-vaccines"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.9399800803512335, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}