Questions-Answers - Medical Staff COVID Vaccine (FINAL).pdf

TOPR QUESTIONS

CRC - Atlantic

Question Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

1 Section L.3.1 (page 94) of the RFP states, “Experience submitted that was performed by subcontractors anticipated for this contract effort will not be considered as relevant.” As a result of this requirement, bidders will be limited to medical staffing companies, thereby preventing companies with broader, large-scale, relevant capabilities from responding to the solicitation.

Per Amendment 001 to the solicitation, the language in section L.3.1 page 94 was changed to the following " Experience submitted that was performed by subcontractors anticipated for this contract effort will be considered but may not be considered as relevant as the Prime’s experience"

2 SOW item#2 “and/or establishing new federally operated facilities”. Will the Contractor be managing end-to-end setup, wraparound, and registration and scheduling when “establishing new federally operated facilities”? If yes, the staffing matrix only calls for a limited staff of non-clinical, how are these support staff to be billed?

No

3 SOW item #16 “Any PII/PHI that is collected from or about the vaccine recipients will be completed by either state employees, National Guard, other federal employees”. Will the state employees, National Guard, other federal employees be deployed alongside the contractor, performing all non-clinical support functions?

This requirement supports clinical/vaccine administration effort as requested by state/territories/tribes only.

4 SOW Item # 7.1 - 7.2 Please provide additional clarification on rollout. 7.1.1 f “75 percent of Government’s total staffing requirements available for deployment upon contract award”. Is this 75% of 2500? If yes, please explain the difference between “deployment”, “immediate deployment” and “Operational capacity” as 7.1.1 g. “Ramp-up Capability upon IDIQ award: The contractor shall have the capability to immediately deploy and manage travel arrangements for up to 500 personnel per day. And 7.1.1 h shall indicate the acceptable Initial Operating Capability (first date of arrival with 25%) Is the attention to have a roster of 75% committed staff (available for deployment), of which a minimum of 500 shall be available for rapid deployment within 72 hours?

See Amendment 01 -SOW

5 Question: What is an acceptable timeframe for ramp-up from initial capacity to full operating capacity.

See SOW 7.1.1.h

Question Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

6 Page 91: Offerors shall submit their Corporate Experience (including all supporting documentation) electronically by email to Sharon Edwards Sharon.edwards3@fema.dhs.gov and Erich Ducote, erich.ducote@fema.dhs.gov. The Government email server has a size limitation of 12 MB peremail (including attachments).

Multiple emails may be required for proposal submission. Please clarify if the entire submission (corp experience + supporting documentation) is limited to 5 pages + cover page, or, can we submit our corp experience in the 5 page document, and then attach additional PDFs with additional supporting documentation for our experience. If the latter, is there a limit to the amount of supporting documents we can provide (quantity of documents, or number of pages for those documents)

Only Corporate Experience limited to 5 pages will be evaluated.

7 Page 94: Past Performance will be viewed as element of Corporate Experience but will not receive its own rating. Offerors are asked to submit associated contract numbers, period of performance, total dollar value and references (name, email and Ph#) for of the relevant effort. For the federal relevant experience, the Contracting Officer will check references, CPARS and FAPIIS. Will past performance as a subcontractor be considered as past performance? If yes, the details won’t be found in CPARS or FAPIIS, is there any other method to support this information? Will references of Federal Officials that had oversight of our work be acceptable?

The following language was added to the RFP, "For relevant commercial experience, offerors are asked to submit their clients name, phone#, and email address to the person that can verify performance:, see page 94, Past Performance.

8 AMR has existing relationships with subcontractors. Please clarify on the top of page 26, under the Subcontracting goals chart, there is a line that begins "Representative to have been of value or usable, or (2) is exchanged…" This line appears to be missing its context.

Will FEMA please explain the requirement?

The language is deleted from the RFP (See Amendment 0001)

9 Erich Ducote's email is listed as both Erich.Ducote@fema.dhs.gov (p91) and Erich.Ducoter@fema.dhs.gov (p14). Which is correct?

Erich Ducote's correct email address is erich.ducote@fema.dhs.gov

10 How many key personnel are expected to be identified? The solicitation information regarding the oral presentation indicates that any identified key personnel should participate, as well as up to two additional participants, but no more than three total participants should attend the oral presentation.

See Amendment 01 -SOW for Key Personnel

11 AMR assumes the fill-in exhibits for FAR 52.204-24 and 52.204-26, and the statement of contractor assurance, are to be submitted with our Phase II submission. Do these count against the 12 page limit?

The fill-in exhibits for FAR 52.204-24 and 52.204-26, and the statement of Contractor Assurance, does not count toward the 12-limit page count for Phase II proposal

12 Will FEMA publish the questions from all prospective bidders? When can bidders expect to see the responses posted to the questions?

Questions & Answers from all bidders will be published as soon as possible.

Question Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

13 RFP, Volume 1: Technical, Phase 1: Corporate Experience. Solicitation Page 92.

Is the offeror permitted to submit a cover letter and executive summary as part of our Phase I – Corporate Experience? If permitted, can these two items be excluded from the page count?

The Cover Page and the Executive Summary can be excluded from the page count.

14 RFP, Phase 2: Staffing and Management Approach, page 95.

“Page limitation: Oral Presentation and written submission totaling no more than 12 pages in Microsoft Word and /or PowerPoint formats combined.” Is the 12-page count apply to the written (Microsoft Word) portion of the Phase 2 Technical? Will there be a separate page count associated with the number of slides we can submit for the Oral (PowerPoint) Presentation?

12-page limit applies to written submission only.

15 RFP, Phase I, page 91 “Offerors shall submit their Corporate Experience (including all supporting documentation)”. Can you please clarify what supporting documentation the offeror is to submit? Is supporting documentation excluded from the page count?

"Supporting Documentation" will be removed. See Amended RFP.

16 Factor 1: Corporate Experience, page 94 Is the offeror permitted to submit major subcontractor Corporate Experience?

Per Amendment 001 to the solicitation, the language in section L.3.1 page 94 was changed to the following " Experience submitted that was performed by subcontractors anticipated for this contract effort will be considered but may not be considered as relevant as the Prime’s experience"

17 SOW, Page 2, Para 6.

Hours of Operation: Clause states OT will have to be authorized in advance. Will authorization be given at time of TO award or will contractor have to request overtime on an as needed basis?

Procedures for advance OT authorization will be determined at the Task Order Level.

18 RFP, Schedule B Is "Extended Shift" on Schedule B considered overtime pay, i.e. time and one half pay?

Yes. "Extended Shift" is considered overtime.

19 SOW, Page 3, Para 7.1.1, (f). Would the government consider additional time in regard to the 72 hour deployment schedule requirement considering time needed for the internal on-boarding process, background checks, accreditation of medical licenses, government approval and travel to sites?

See Amendment 01 -SOW 7.1.1.f.

20 SOW, Page 4, Para 7.2 (b).

What is the process to request potential new hires, that live out of the local area, be allowed to travel and be considered TDY, since authorization for travel/TDY must be made in advance?

The Task Order Proposal Request (TOPR) will indicate the total number of labor categories required. The contractor shall appropriately propose the overall travel costs necessary to relocate staff from "out of the local area."

Question Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

21 SOW, Page 7, Para 10, Covid-19 Safety.

Will the government consider reimbursement for quarantine pay? Also, the SOW states that lodging will be paid, but does not reference per diem. If we pay per diem, will we be reimbursed in accordance with the FTR?

No. the Government will not reimburse for quarantine (hourly) pay, see SOW Section 10.

22 SOW, Page 8, Para 14, PPE.

In one part of the RFP, the government states that no indirect costs will be reimbursed on materials and supplies purchased by the contractor. However, there is another paragraph where the government discusses the potential need for the contractor to purchase PPE. If the contractor has to procure their own PPE, will they be allowed to invoice for O/H, G&A, and fee?

No.

23 RFP, Section H.12, page 24 Hazardous Waste must be disposed by Contractor. Will proper disposal containers be provided at each site?

See Amendment RFP. Clause is Deleted.

24 SOW, Section 7.2, page 4 In order to minimize inter-state and intra-state air travel, will the client agree to allow the contractor to approve travel in accordance with the FTR?

yes.

25 SOW, Page 12 Will DOH consider the use of a Registered Nurse in lieu of a Pharmacist or Pharmacy Technician?

Specific labor category required will be identified at the TO level.

26 Attachment 2 – Pricing Template (East and West Zone) Since each State, Local Municipality, Territory and Tribal locales can differ in their vaccination programs, types of vaccines, facilities, and varied populations, it is important that consistent accommodating training programs are deployed for the different medical staff deployed. Would FEMA consider adding CLINS to reflect the costs for Training Managers, Training Specialists, Documentation Specialists, and Training Program documentation?

No.

27 Attachment 2 – Pricing Template (East and West Zone) For such a broad scale program, there are considerable logistic efforts to track the rostering, licenses and other current credentials, badging, background checks, reporting, etc across the regions. Would FEMA consider adding CLINS or expanding CLINS to reflect the costs for administrative logistic services?

No. The administrative costs shall be company's overhead (indirect cost) which may be loaded to the Program Manager / Deputy Program Manager price.

28 Will each SLTT be responsible for outreach and scheduling the individuals to be vaccinated at each location? Will SLTT supply personnel to validate the identities of the individuals scheduled against the individuals being vaccinated?

yes

Question Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

29 Will each SLTT be responsible for procuring sufficient vaccinations and tracking the inventory to accommodate the scheduled individuals? What will be the method of communication for the Contractor to know which vaccines will be onsite at each location?

Yes; it is unknown at this time which vaccine will be available per state/vaccination center.

30 Will each SLTT be responsible for supplying sufficient staff to collect the PII and PHI information?

yes

31 Please explain the process to communicate the schedule and locations for when, which staff categories, and how many medical staff are required? Will there be a central system to access for the location address, times for arrival/departure, Point of Contact name and phone number, and access guidelines (sign in, metal detectors, security guard desk, restrictions on phones etc), is there an estimate for how many days in advance the schedule will be communicated.

The 'task order statement of work' and 'task order proposal request (TOPR)' documents will be provided to the contractor to appropriately propose against EACH specific requirement.

32 Which Government systems will require access by the Contractor to perform this contract? The contractor shall NOT have access to a Federal Government system.

33 RFP Page 94 “Offerors may reference up to five (5) five recent Government and/or commercial examples of experience in the presentation. Offerors are encouraged to submit experience performed as a prime, through teaming agreements, or as the sole subcontractor on the relevant projects.

Experience submitted that was performed by subcontractors anticipated for this contract effort will not be considered as relevant.”

Please clarify that the Prime and major Subcontractors may include relevant project experience.

Per Amendment 001 to the solicitation, the language in section L.3.1 page 94 was changed to the following " Experience submitted that was performed by subcontractors anticipated for this contract effort will be considered but may not be considered as relevant as the Prime’s experience"

34 Attachment 1 – Statement of Work, page 8 The contractor is required to obtain and maintain a Medical Liability policy in the amount of not less than $1 million per the Federal Acquisition Regulation Clause 52.237-7. The contractor shall submit evidence of insurance demonstrating the required coverage to the contracting officer prior to commencement of performance.

Is evidence of Medical Liability insurance for subcontractors required?

All subcontractors shall adhere to the same contract terms and conditions that apply to the Prime contractor.

Question Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

35 RFP, Page 93 The requirements for providing specific examples of corporate experience indicate that if a contractor would like to be considered for both, Regions 1 – 5, AND Regions 6 – 10, two proposals must be submitted.

For example, the RFP states, “If proposing for Regions 1 – 5…” and “If proposing for Regions 6 – 10…”

Can the contractor submit just one proposal with separate pricing templates for East and West Zones to be considered for Regions 1 – 5 (one award) AND Regions 6

– 10 (one award)?

Yes

36 In preparation for the level of granularity needed for the Daily, Weekly, and Biweekly reporting requirements does FEMA anticipate each field deployment location to be a task order or will there be larger orders such as support to a State, Local or tribal entity?

Each location will be a separate task order.

37 Attachment 2 Pricing Template and Attachment F CLIN Price Structure both indicate the the Contractor fully burdened labor rates are identified as ceiling rates. Could FEMA clarify what a ceiling rate is and how it will be used in this program?

It is a Not-to-Exceed unit price. On Task Order awards, the contractor shall not exceed the IDIQ ceiling rate when proposing for each task order.

38 Would the Government please confirm the requirement for malpractice insurance as $1,000,000.00 per specialty? The solicitation states "The Contractor shall maintain during the term of this contract liability insurance issued by a responsible insurance carrier of not less than the following amount(s) per specialty per occurrence: $1,000,000.00." Per our insurance broker "Normally the support staff is insured under one limit which would be all the positions except for the Dentist and Physician which we see a dedicated limit."

See FAR Clause 52.237-7 Indemnification and Medical Liability Insurance, as incorporated into this solicitation states "the contractor shall maintain during the term of this contract liability insurance issued by a responsible insurance carrier of not less than the following amount(s) per specialty per occurence:

($1,000,000). See Amendment 01 SOW, section 17, Table 1.

39 Page 92 of the solicitation states "Front matter does not count against the page limitation."

Please define front matter.

Front matter is the cover page, table of contents, and executive summary

40 Can an offeror bid one only one zone or must both zones be bid? If bidding on only one zone is allowed how/where will the offeror annotate the zone?

The offeror can bid on both zones. The offeror can annotate it on the cover letter and the pricing proposal should also state which zone the offeror is bidding on.

41 Because this is a non-personal service requirement, licenses will have to be held in the state of practice. This limits the availability to deploy a traveling force unless they are licensed in that state. Only some nursing and physician enjoy a Compact agreement in some states. Has a thought for a time limited Executive Order been considered?

Each individual TO will reference whether vaccinators are required to be licensed in the state in which they are administering vaccines or if any reciprocity for licensure is permitted. Also see Section 7.2(g) of the SOW.

Question Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

42 Which Government agency (and where) will hold credentialing approval authority? The medical staff and contractor must provide evidence have appropriate license/credentialling from a state. See SOW 7.2.g

43 SOW 7.1.3 refers to Task Order Request for Proposal (TOPR). After East Zone and West Zone contracts are awarded, will subsequent TOPRs be released for bid? Please describe TOPR process.

Task orders will be awarded based on the requirement for that zone. For example, if the medical staff are needed in California, a TOPR will be issued to the IDIQ contract holder for the West Zone.

44 Attachment 1-SOW, Labor Category Description, #18 Pgs. 9-13: As outlined in the SOW, the certifications required for Labor Categories is overly restrictive and many providers will not have multiple certifications as listed in the requirement. Will the government consider reducing the certification requirement to the BLS which is the most common certification?

See Amendment 01 SOW.

45 Attachment 1-SOW, Labor Category Description, #18 Pgs. 9-13: Will the government consider including Physicians, Physician Assistants and CRNAs in the Function Category- Vaccine Preparers? Providers in these labor categories possess the qualifications/skill set to prepare vaccines and this would provide greater opportunity for success at staffing this function.

See Amendment 01 SOW.

46 Attachment 1-SOW, Labor Category Description, #18 Pgs. 9-13, Table 2: Will the government include the minimum qualifications for the Licensed Practical Nurse/Licensed Vocational Nurs (LPN/LVN) labor category? Table 2 does not provide this information.

See Amendment 01 SOW.

47 RFP SF 1449: Will the Government consider changing the NAICS for this requirement to 561320-Temporary Help Services?

No.

48 Will FEMA cover cost of a group of medical staff waiting for deployment to site, (“bench”)?

No.

49 Will we be able bill time and materials for medical staff who are on-site and available to work but are unable to work due to the shortfall of vaccine or other supply chain issues?

Yes.

50 Are critical “practice management” functions such as centralized scheduling for the community, vaccine registration, clinical portal for pre-registration, and data management and reporting to be included in this RFP? If not, how are they to be provided?

No.

51 How are the logistics for establishing centers, such as freezers, necessary equipment, facility prep, etc. to be provided given they are not a part of this RFP?

This question is outside the scope of this requirement.

52 What is the definition of an extended shift rate? In a state where the law requires overtime to be paid for work over 8 hours in a day, can the extended shift rate be applied to those worked hours?

See Amd 01- SOW section 7.2.2.a

Question Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

53 Will contractor be required to utilize technology to perform their job function? Will contractor be required to provide personal computers, tablets, or phones?

No.

54 Why is there a credit check requirement for the medical service personnel? Removed. See Amendment 01 SOW.

55 Will there be any specific clinical credentialing requirements for the medical staff? Appropriate background check, as requested by licensing states, are required.

See Amendment 01 SOW Sections 7.2.g and 11

56 Is Worker’s Compensation required for independent contractors? See Clause 52.228-7 57 Is pre-approval for Travel Costs (Lodging and Per Diem) required for Contractor staff that meets the IRS guidelines for tax-free travel reimbursement paid directly to contractors under GSA guidelines via an accountable plan? Can travel related disbursements be billed for under T&M ODC 0003 and T&M ODC 0004?

No. Travel costs shall be billed under ODC-Travel CLIN 0003. See SOW 7.3.

58 Attachment 1 SOW has a broad list of medical staff requirements for vaccinators. Do you envision task orders will specify the type of professional required or simply that any qualified vaccinator can perform the duties as needed?

Each task order specify the labor category and the number of staff needed.

59 Why is there a requirement in the RFP for the DCAA compliant accounting system? The requirement for an audited accounting system has been removed from the

RFP

60 Who will be preparing the DCAA audit, is it the government or will an independent accounting firm suffice and when will the audit take place?

The requirement for an audited accounting system has been removed from the

RFP

61 Would FEMA consider treating Travel and ODCs as materials under the T&M CLINS rather than under separate cost CLINS in order to limit the compliance burden and increase eligible offerors?

No.

62 Given that the contract will be awarded under FAR Part 12 (commercial items), why is it appropriate for the inclusion of cost-type CLINs and related requirements, including having an approved accounting system?

The Travel and Miscellaneous CLINs are T&M CLINs that will be reimbursed at cost. The requirement for an audited accounting system has been removed from the RFP

63 Our understanding is that a signed SF 1449 (RFP Page 1) form has to be submitted with our Phase II response. Is this correct?

Yes.

64 Page 91, the instructions state that "Volume I" should be annotated on the cover for the Phase I submission. But, Volume I is part of the Phase I and Phase II submissions. Should we annotate "Phase I-Volume 1-Factor 1" on the cover page for the Phase I submission?

Yes.

65 F.2, Period of Performance, Page 12 - Shows 6 month POP with 6 month option. Does this equate to the length of TOs under the IDIQ POP? Or will there be shorter POPs during the 6 month IDIQ POP?

Task order POPs are not known at this time

Question Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

66 F.4, Page 12 - What is the anticipated prior notice time for a TO? What is the expected preparation time prior to launch to a remote COVID vaccination site?

Task order POPs are not known at this time

67 The SOW identified a NTE ceiling price, but the pricing attachment 2 doesn't ask for ceiling pricing. Which is correct?

Overall ceiling of the National Medical Staffing support IDIQs is $3.2B ($1.6M per zone). See Amd RFP - Maximum Ordering Clause

68 What is the FEMA TO process for deploying contract staff to a remote location? Is each deployment an individual TO? Are these TOs competed? Is a TO issued for a team to travel to multiple locations?

Specific requirements of each TO will be determined at the TO level.

69 We understand the cover page is not part of the 5-page limit for the Phase I submission.

We plan to add a Table of Contents after the cover page for easy navigation, can the TOC be excluded from the 5-page limit too?

Yes.

70 This states NAICS 541990 size standard $16.5 - which means that a company, including its affiliates, would be considered a "small business" if their average income does not exceed $15 million for each of the pay periods for the preceding completed 12 calendar months. Do we qualify as a “small business” per those standards?

The contractor shall check with its local Small Business Administration for clarification.

71 Time & Material with fixed labor rates – covers project management, medical labor, travel per Federal Travel Regulation and other/miscellaneous – what falls under this other/miscellaneous TM category – Hotels, Meal Per Diems, etc.?

See SOW 7.3 and 7.4

72 Is it a requirement or only a goal to have 42.5% subcontracting plan? If Krucial is prime contractor and can provide the staff needed without subcontracting any out, is that acceptable?

This is a goal for Large businesses.

73 Can you please advise if the cited projects or past performance are to be direct prime contractor experience that the offeror provided and not the indirect experience of any subcontractors that may be used?

Per Amendment 001 to the solicitation, the language in section L.3.1 page 94 was changed to the following " Experience submitted that was performed by subcontractors anticipated for this contract effort will be considered but may not be considered as relevant as the Prime’s experience"

74 Can a vendor choose a specific zone to work in, for example; NYC and all boroughs, Long Island and NJ?

Zones will be separated by East and West. Each IDIQ contract will be responsible for covering the entire zone. See Amend 01 - SOW section 3.

75 Does the vendor upload all vaccination information to NYS and NJ DOH? No

76 What telecommunications equipement or service is required to service this contract? None

77 Please define extended shift rate in column E of pricing template? Overtime rates 78 Please define extended shift as per pricing template? See Amd 01- SOW section 7.2.2.a 79 Is the contractor required to provide any equipement for facilities or faciliies management? See Amd 01 - SOW section 13

Question Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

80 Can contract choose to bid on one or both regions? It is up to the vendor whether they bid on one zone or on both zones.

81 Is contractor require to provide supplies or materials required to adminsiter the vaccine? If yes, please specify

See Amd 01 - SOW sections 7.4 and 13

82 Is contractor require to transport the vaccine? No.

83 Is contractor require to provide and supplies or materials required to prepare the vaccine?

If yes, please specify See Amd 01 - SOW sections 7.4 and 13

84 Will the contract penallties for non performance? If yes, please specify yes. Penalties may include contract termination and/or adverse past performance rating in the CPARs. See Amend 01 - SOW Section 9.

85 Is there a minimum guarataned hours per week for deployed staf? No.

86 Is contractor required to dispose of waste? No.

87 Is contracor require to dispose of medical waste? No.

88 Is Government willing to reduce minimum years of experience for RNs below 3 years? Yes, see Amendment 01 - SOW.

89 Is Government willing to reduce minimum years of experience for Dentist below 3 years? Yes, see Amendment 01 - SOW.

90 Is Government willing to reduce minimum years of experience for Physician Assistant below 3 years?

Yes, see Amendment 01 - SOW.

91 Is Government willing to reduce minimum years of experience for Pharmacist below 3 years?

Yes, see Amendment 01 - SOW.

92 Is Government willing to reduce minimum years of experience for Pharmacist below 3 years?

Yes, see Amendment 01 - SOW.

93 Is Government willing to reduce minimum years of experience for EMT below 3 years? Yes, see Amendment 01 - SOW.

94 Is Government willing to reduce minimum years of experience for Respiratory Therapist below 3 years?

Yes, see Amendment 01 - SOW.

95 Is Government willing to reduce minimum years of experience for Pharmy Tech below 3 years?

Yes, see Amendment 01 - SOW.

96 How many years of experience is requird for licensed vocational / practical nurse See Amendment 01 SOW.

97 Is the conttrsctor required to provide vechiles owned or otherwise? It is not a requirement.

98 What are the governments payment terms? See RFP Payment clauses 99 Is OT apprroved for this contract? It is considered Extended Shift; as approved by the contracting officer/Contracting officer's representative. See Amd 01 - SOW - section 7.2.2.a

100 Should the rate entered in columns D and E of pricing template be the ceiling rate / not to exceed rate?

yes

101 Will the government consider adding FTEs to perform clerical / admin duties? No

102 Will government consider adding FTEs for reporting requirements? No

Question Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

103 We see that the due date for Phase I is March 3 and for Phase II is March 16. By what date will FEMA notify Phase I participants whether or not they have been selected to advance to Phase II?

FEMA will notify the vendors as soon as possible after evaluation as to whether FEMA advises that they move forward with Phase II. FEMA estimates roughly two weeks between Phase I and Phase II evaluations.

104 Qualified and verifiable experience aside, what are the pre-requisite business qualifiers for a company to engage in business directly with FEMA? (i.e. SAM registration? GSA-certification? Security clearance? Other?)

The vendor must have an ACTIVE SAM.gov registration when the proposal is submitted.

105 We understand that a firm can bid for either the East zone, the West zone or both zones.

But if bidding within one zone, for example, can any territory be excluded? Or rather, must a firm bidding a particular zone be capable of providing services to ALL locations within the zone in which they bid?

Firm must be capable of provding services to that entire zone.

106 The percentages of the subcontracting goals (shown on page 99 of the main RFP document) add up to 58.5% when all socio-economic groupings are included. Does that mean 58.5% of *all* business must be subcontracted to the groupings outlined here? Or rather, does it mean that 58.5% of the *portion* of business that we subcontract shall be through engagement with these socio-economic groupings?

The total sub-contracting goal is 42.5%. The programs under that goal (SDB (5%), Hubzone (3%), SDVOSB (3%), and WOSB (5%)) are part of that overall SB goal of 42.5%

107 Assuming the answer to the previous question is the second scenario we describe, what minimum percentage of the (potential) business with each awarded firm must be subcontracted *overall*?

Invalid questions, please see the the response to question #106.

108 Given the quick turnaround time for this RFP balanced against the necessary time before bid submission to establish relationships with subcontracting firms matching the socio-economic groupings identified, would FEMA consider flexibility in the requirements/goals here? Or rather, are firms which are unable to establish these partnerships ineligible for an award of business?

The SubContracting Plans are due within thirty (30) days after contract award

109 On Page 94 of the main RFP document, past performance projects FEMA considers *relevant* are stated to be those in the area of $100,000,000. Please confirm that the expectation is that the ONE HUNDRED MILLION dollars revenue should be earnings for just one single project and that for every reference given, they should EACH have resulted in ONE HUNDRED MILLION dollars to our firm.

Yes

Question Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

110 Will the resulting agreement be governed by federal contract regulations that require the awarded firm to pay fringe benefit costs?

The contractor shall follow the FAR for allowable and unallowable costs, and own established accounting policy. The fringe benefit costs shall be loaded within the fully burdened labor rates.

111 On Page 58 of the main RFP document, it speaks of insurance costs that are reimbursable.

Will the awarded firm’s insurance costs be reimbursable for this contract? If so, how is reimbursement obtained?

No, not a direct cost reimbursable.

112 Can you provide details on CLINs 0003, 0004, 1003 and 1004 referenced in Section D(1) on Page 42 of the main RFP document?

See SOW sections 7.3 and 7.4

113 On Page 68 of the main RFP document, it speaks of Privacy Training requirements. Are the awarded firms able to bill FEMA for the time our contractors engage in this training?

Yes

114 Page 94: References indicated that "Recent is considered within the last (5) five years, and relevant is considered to be of similar scope and complexity with an approximate completion dollar value of $100,000,000". Can this dollar value be for multiple clients within the last 5 years?

See response #109.

115 Dentist is listed as #4 and #14, on the qualified medical personnel -please clarify the reason for the two different Dentist on the list?

Dentist may perform two different functions: clinical manager/vaccine lead or Vaccinator.

116 Who is responsible for the pre-deployment of sites to survey and ensure the visiting site is equipped and ready for services?

The contractor is not required to perform pre-deployment site survey.

117 Who is responsible for inventoring, shipping and tracking the supplies such as the PPEs ordered either by the government or the contractor once they have been delivered?

The contractor is not responsible for inventoring, shipping and trakcing the supplies.

118 Table 2: PM and DPM requires PMP certification, will the government allow for substitution of higher years of experience and/or aan advanced degree with the required experience?

See SOW Table 2 Minimum education/certification requirement.

119 Would the government consider adding Medical Assistants (MAs) to the vaccinators list of personnel who are “registered (R.M.A) or certified (CMA)” and are clinically approved to administer injections? They would fall under our credentialing process and all designations would be verified; similar to the credentialing process of verifying a state issued LPN/RN license.

No

120 Is this a re-compete RFP? If yes, No.

121 Could you please the name of Current Suppliers (who are currently providing services to

Agency)?

Not Applicable

122 Could you please share current Suppliers pricing and Proposals? Not Applicable 123 When the existing contract was started, and what is the annual monetary spent value of the current contract since inception?

Not Applicable

124 How many resources are currently engaged in the current contract? Not Applicable

Question Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

125 Can you please share the no. of positions served in previous years under this contract? Not Applicable

126 Can you please share the amount of business each vendor did under this contract in previous years?

Not Applicable

127 Please confirm, can we submit similar references of Government and/or commercial for the dollar value less than $ 5 Million?

Per the RFP, "Offerors may reference up to five (5) five recent Government and/or commercial examples of experience in the presentation. Offerors are encouraged to submit experience performed as a prime, through teaming agreements, or as the sole subcontractor on the relevant projects" . Also, "Recent is considered within the last (5) five years, and relevant is considered to be of similar scope and complexity with an approximate completion dollar value of $100,000,000".

128 If yes, then please confirm how agency will be evaluation our references in comparison of dollar value of $100 Million reference?

See Section M of the RFP for Evaluation Factors for Award

129 Would agency be considering vendors, who has past project experience whose past performance value is Less than or equal too $ 5 Million?

The contractor shall follow the proposal instruction in the RFP

130 Would agency start executing the contract with Phase 1 awarded vendors or agency will execute the contract after awarding phase 2?

See RFP Sections L and M.

131 Please confirm Would agency be sharing Complete jod detail during the contract excution period?

Each task order will specify labor categories and functions.

132 Regarding the proposal instructions, it requestes on page 93 of the RFP to providie CORPORATE EXPERIENCE in providing those 15 labor categories. We have provided all of the labor categories however, they were not in response to a "national medical respost effort" or an emergency. We have provided labor to DOD and other federal agencies. Will we be able to use this experience as acceptable experience? Or does it have to be experience supporting a National Emergency Response?

The contractor shall follow the proposal instruction in the Amende RFP.

133 Can you confirm we are able to expense airfare, car rental, daily per diem and meal allowances for our workforce when we deploy them?

See SOW section 7.3.

134 Will GOV provide all PPE and supplies and equipment for this effort? Is it correct to assume that the contractor is only providing labor?

See SOW section 7.4.

135 Very few companies have experience staffing "thousands" of medical personnel. Most, if not all, SB's do not have this experience. Our company has experience providing "hundreds" of medical personnel to CONUS and OCONUS locations. Is the "thousands" of personnel deployment experience a requirement in order to proceed to Phase 2?

See SOW and RFP section L.

Question Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

136 If our company has experience providing hundreds of medical personnel in the last 5 years, and can demonstrate our ability to provide thousands in surge support, would we qualify to proceed to phase 2 or is that a hard requirement that the contractor must have experience providing thousands of personnel?

See SOW and RFP sections L & M.

137 How many specific locations are anticipated in each state? And what cities/counties are those locations based in?

Specific requirements of each TO will be determined at the TO level.

138 We have an IDIQ contract for medical staffing that includes more than 50 task orders in 50 different locations. Can we use this IDIQ contract as 1 of the 5 alloted contracts for experience?

See RFP sections L.

139 We have a FSS/GSA Supply Schedule contract for medical staffing that includes more than 30 task orders in 20 different locations. Can we use this IDIQ contract as 1 of the 5 alloted contracts for experience?

See RFP sections L.

140 If we are a SB and SDB firm, will we still need to provide a Subcontracting Plan for subcontracts to WOSB, HUBZONE, SDVOSB?

No

141 What supervisory/lead positions are required at each clinical site? To be determined at each task order.

142 Is the Program Manager and Deputy Program Managers based in the corporate office or are they required to be on site as well? If yes, what site?

Corporate office. See SOW section 7.1.3

143 How many Leads are required at each clinical site? To be determined at each task order.

144 Does FEMA anticipate that that ordering SLTTs will have specific labor categories they will order, or does the government anticipate awards will be for functional categories (i.e.

"Vaccinators")?

It may vary with each SLTT.

145 Does the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act's immunity provisions applies to the contractor, subcontractors, and medical personnel working under this vaccination administration effort?

See Section 2 of the SOW and the liabilities section H.11 and I.3 52.237-7.

146 FAR 52.237-7. Is there a minimum aggregate coverage amount for this effort? Federal standards for medical staffing typically are $1m/occurance and $3m/aggregate.

In accordance with FAR Clause 52.237-7, as incorporated into the solicitation, “The Contractor shall maintain during the term of this contract liability insurance issued by a responsible insurance carrier of not less than the following amount(s) per specialty per occurrence: $1 million… Liability insurance may be on either an occurrences basis or on a claims-made basis. If the policy is on a claims-made basis, an extended reporting endorsement (tail) for a period of not less than 3 years after the end of the contract term must also be provided.”

Question Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

147 Pricing. In some jursidictions, e.g. California, hours worked over eight hours in a workday require the payment of an overtime premium. Please confirm that hours legally required to be paid at an overtime rate may be invoiced as "Extended Shift Rate".

yes

148 Pricing. Please include in the pricing sheet CLINs for night, weekend, and holiday shift differentials. If the government opts not to do this, please provide an estimate of what proportion it expects shifts to be night (e.g., after 7pm local time), weekends, and holiday so industry may incorporate this into rate proposals.

Rationale: Given the potential for 24-hour coverage, industry will need to propose night, weekend, and holiday rates to incorporate appropriate shift differentials, which are standard in medical staffing.

See "Extended Shift" rate and hours (columns E, H, J, L)

149 Pricing. The Government likely will want to break out separate maximum rates for local and travel medical staffing services in its pricing template.

The latter are significantly higher, e.g. double. If the Government opts not to update the pricing sheet, it effectively will be asking offerors to submit a not-to-exceed pricing worksheet of only travel hourly rates.

The IDIQ ceiling rates are "not-to-exceed." At each task order, depending on the location, the contractor may be requested to provide discounted rates as applicable. Travel may only be billed through the Travel ODC

150 SOW 15. Please remove "The Contractor shall also maintain records of participation by its employees in continuing education programs and reports showing frequency and type of medical incidents."

Removed. See Amendment 01 SOW.

151 SOW 7.2(g) & 12. Please delete "and credit".

Rationale: Pre-employmen credit checks are illegal or restricted in at least 11 states and numerous local jursidictions, including many large cities where vaccination services almost certainly will be required under this contract, and the U.S. House of Representatives has done the same on January 29, with this very likely to become federal law shortly.

But, perhaps most importantly, this is not industry practice, particularly not for non-permanent assignments and will slow down staffing response for SLTT customers.

In any event, credit checks are unduly restrictive of staffing medical personnel who will not have access to Government information systems.

The credit check requirmenet has been removed from the SOW.

Question Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

152 SOW 7.3(e) states that FEMA will not reimburse return flights to alternate destinations other than the employee's residence. Please clarify that FEMA will reimburse travel from one contract site to another. Please further clarify that it will reimburse travel from one contract site to another even if services are performed on the contract for the other region.

Rationale: many travelling medical personnel are used to longer-duration periods of being away than some SLTTs will order, so FEMA will help contractors to meet dynamic needs by allowing onward travel to other sites.

Mission/requirement related travel that is pre-approved by the COR shall be reimbursable. See Amd SOW section 7.3.e

153 SOW 7.3. Who is the Government POC responsible for approving travel for travel, the COR or KO? The SOW is ambiguous as to whether it is either or both. What is the Government's contingency plan for after-hours approval as well as when the Government POC does not respond timely?

Mainly the COR with CO acknowledgement.

154 SOW 7.4. Where SLTT customers lack sufficient PPE, will FEMA require or reimburse PPE purchases by the contractor?

Yes, the task order will indicate whether the contractor will be required to procure PPE. Cost reimbursement under CLIN 0004. See Amendment 0 1- SOW Sction 7.4

155 SOW T.2 "Applicable certification according to requirements for specialties". Please clarify that any of the these certifications qualify. We think this is the intent.

The contractor must meet the minimum qualifications listed in Table 1.

156 SOW T.2. Consider replacing "actively practicing in specialty with minimum experience of X years" to be "Minimum experience of 1 year within the last 3 years", e.g.

Rationale: The requirements that a labor category be "actively practicing in specialty" is going to constrain the available labor pool and frustrate rapid staffing effort. For example, this would bar a clinician who retired 6 months ago but who is still licensed and fully capable of participating in a vaccination campaign.

See Amendment 01- SOW.

157 SOW T.2. Please provide the qualifications for LPN/LVN.

Suggested qualifications are:

Education: Graduate of an accredited Licensed Practical or Vocational Nurse educational program.

Certification: Minimum BLS, ACLS, ATLS, PALS, or CPR III.

Experience: Minimum experience of one (1) year as an LPN/LVN.

See Amendment 01 SOW.

Question Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

158 SOW T.2. Please remove "American Board Certification of Board Eligible" from the Physician Certification section as well asl " post-board certification" in the Experience section.

Board certification or residency (BE) is not medically necessary for physicians to oversee vaccination adminstration nor appropriate for this non-specialized medical requirement.

Requiring BC/BE also drastically will constrain the available labor pool of available physicians and make the physician labor category both immensely difficult to staff, likely adversely impacting the resultant contractors' ability to provide physicians under FEMA's timeline, as well as raise th cost to SLTT customers. Please consider removing board certification as a requirement.

Similarly, requiring 3 years of experience after a residency to oversee vaccinations is far too high a minimum requirement for this effort. We typically see that type of qualification only for the highest-risk inpatient/surgical specialists.

See Amendment 01 SOW.

159 SOW T.2. Please remove from the RN's expereince "Active hospital credentials and privileges."

Rationale: Requiring a hospital to hold the credentials of an RN is unnecessary and restricts the pool of qualified RNs to only those who are currently working for a hospital.

This is unduly restrictive to meet the requirement. Additionally, RNs are not privileged providers and cannot be privileged by a hospital.

See Amendment 01 SOW.

160 SOW T.2. Providers should have 2-year experience requirements and non-providers should have 1-year requirements; neither should have 3-year experience minimums.

Rationale: The experience requirements in the initial SOW are higher both than commerical industry requirements as well as federal agency medical staffing qualification standards. In any event 3-year experience requirements will adversely impact the ability of this program to succeed but constraining the already tight labor supply of available clinicians.

See Amendment 01 SOW.

161 With the understanding that initial award activity is unknowable, is FEMA predicting that approx. 500 clinicians will be mobilized at or near the initial contract/TO awards?

At this time, it is an estimate and a possibility. See Amendment 01 - SOW.

Question Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

162 Would the government please consider removing the following from Section L.3.1 (page

94) “Experience submitted that was performed by subcontractors anticipated for this contract effort will not be considered as relevant” to allow primes to utilize subcontractor experience towards Factor 1 – Corporate Capabilities and ensure maximum competition to provide best value to the USG?

Per Amendment 001 to the solicitation, the language in section L.3.1 page 94 was changed to the following " Experience submitted that was performed by subcontractors anticipated for this contract effort will be considered but may not be considered as relevant as the Prime’s experience"

163 Given that the contract calls for (a) the provision of medical services as part of a national emergency response to an international pandemic and (b) requires the use of recently developed vaccines whose medical use is legally authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on an “Emergency Use Authorization” basis only, will the Government include FAR 52.250-1 “Indemnification under Public Law 85-804” in the contract?

Please see the solicitation at H.11 and 52.237-7 found at section I.3. FEMA is not considering requests for indemnification through Pub. L. 85-804 at this time.

164 Page 25 Section H.14. If Prime contract is awarded to a Small Business is there still a requirement for Small Business Subcontracting?

No

165 Pages 14/15 SEction G.3 and Page 41 Section C address payment frequency. Will this contract be approved for payment twice monthly?

Per the RFP, the government will payments in accordance with the Prompt payment. The Government will make payment in accordance with the Payment Act (31 U.S.C.3903, see page 35.

166 On Cover page, the solicitation is listed as unrestricted but it has a 16 and half million dollar limit based on the NAICs code. Please clarify if this is designated small businesses under 16.5 million

See SBA website for size standards and NAICS codes

167 On Cover page, the solicitation is listed as unrestricted but it has a 16 and half million dollar limit based on the NAICs code. Please clarify if this is designated small businesses under 16.5 million

This is not a small business set-aside. Please visit the SBA website for an explaination on Size Standards

Question Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

168 On the bottom of page 94, it says "Offerors can still send email to the contracting officers with intent to participate in Phase II even if their proposal is not selected within 24 hours of receipt of advisory notification. This is unclear. If you are not selected for phase II, are we still able to submit phase II response?

Yes; this is offeror's decision. See RFP Section L regarding Advisory Select.

169 How can a small business that fits within the NAICs code that you have listed on the solicitation meet the relevant criteria of a 100 million dollar revenue for a contract completion.?

This is not a small business set-aside, but small businesses are welcomed to bid.

170 Will you consider setting a portion of this contract aside for small businesses to compete? No. See Small Business Subcontracting Goal in the RFP

171 The way this…