1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Vaccine Awareness Campaign to Champion Immunization Nationally and Enhance Safety Act of 2019 or the VACCINES Act of 2019 . 2. Vaccine surveillance and research (a) In general Section 317 of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 247b ) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: (n) Vaccine surveillance and research (1) Surveillance (A) In general The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and in consultation with the National Vaccine Advisory Committee and the Director of the National Vaccine Program, shall develop and deploy a national system for surveillance of vaccination rates. (B) Authorized activities The surveillance system under subparagraph (A) may include the following: (i) Use of immunization data available to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its contractors. (ii) Integration of data from existing systems— (I) to measure vaccination confidence over time; (II) to understand variations across time and geography; and (III) to measure vaccine refusal. (C) Use of data The Secretary may use data collected pursuant to the surveillance system under subparagraph (A) to predict and identify areas and communities where— (i) vaccines are or will be underutilized; (ii) vaccine confidence is low or decreasing; or (iii) misinformation about the safety of vaccines, not supported by scientific or medical evidence, has been directed in a targeted manner. (D) Consultation In developing the surveillance system under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall consult with the National Academies to synthesize existing evidence and develop a standardized measurement of vaccine confidence. (E) Funding There are authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024 to carry out this paragraph. (2) Grants for research The Secretary may award grants for research— (A) to improve the understanding of vaccine hesitancy