,i  #aagth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #aaad  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,february #ah1 #bjba 
,mr4 ,crist introduced the following    
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs  ,a   
,,bill  ,to authorize the ,secretary of 
,veterans ,affairs to provide           
,,covid-#ai vaccines to an expanded     
population of veterans during a covered 
emergency period1 and for other         
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,vaccines for       
,veterans ,act4  #b4 ,,covid-#ai        
vaccines for expanded population of     
veterans during covered emergency period
  7a7 ,,covid-#ai vaccines  7#a7 ,in    
general ,subject to the availability of 
appropriations1 during a covered        
emergency period1 the ,secretary of     
,veterans ,affairs may furnish the      
,,covid-#ai vaccine to any veteran who  
was discharged from service in the      
,armed ,forces under honorable          
conditions without regard to whether the

 veteran is enrolled in the annual      
patient enrollment system under section 
#agje of title #ch1 ,united ,states     
,code1 or otherwise eligible to receive 
health care services under chapter #ag  
of such title4  7#b7 ,state guidelines  
,in furnishing ,,covid-#ai vaccines     
pursuant to paragraph 7#a71 each        
director of a ,department of ,veterans  
,affairs health care facility may       
determine priorities among veterans     
eligible to receive ,,covid-#ai vaccines
 in accordance with guidelines          
established by the ,state in which the  
facility is located4  7b7 ,coordination 
7#a7 ,in general ,in carrying out this  
section1 the ,secretary of ,veterans    
,affairs shall coordinate with the      
entities described in paragraph 7#b71 as
 appropriate1 to determine--  7,a7      
whether an individual seeking to receive
 a ,,covid-#ai vaccine pursuant this    
section meets the requirements of       
subsection 7a77#a72 and  7,b7 the       
relevant prioritization for such        

individual1 in accordance with          
subsection 7a77#b74  7#b7 ,coordinating 
entities ,the entities described in this
 paragraph are the following3 7,a7 ,the 
,secretary of ,defense4  7,b7 ,the      
,secretary of ,health and ,human        
,services4  7,c7 ,the ,director of the  
,centers for ,disease ,control and      
,prevention4  7,d7 ,the ,administrator  
of the ,federal ,emergency ,management  
,agency4  7,e7 ,the heads of ,state     
departments of health 7or related       
agencies74  7,f7 ,any other ,federal    
agency determined relevant by the       
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs4  7c7  
,definitions ,in this section3  7#a7    
,the term covered emergency period means
 a period beginning on the date on which
 a ,president declares a national       
emergency under the ,national           
,emergencies ,act 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #afja  
et seq47 with respect to the coronavirus
 disease #bjai 7,,covid-#ai7 and ending 
on the date that is #cj days after the  
date on which such national emergency   

declaration terminates4  7#b7 ,the term 
covered medical condition means a       
medical condition determined by the     
,director of the ,centers for ,disease  
,control and ,prevention to be high risk
 with respect to ,,covid-#ai4  7#c7 ,the
 term ,,covid-#ai vaccine means any     
vaccine approved or authorized by the   
,commissioner of ,food and ,drugs for   
,,covid-#ai4  7#d7 ,the term ,state     
includes each of the several ,states1   
the ,district of ,columbia1 each        
territory or possession of the ,united  
,states1 and each federally recognized  
,indian ,tribe4