Research, Monitoring and Outcomes Definitions for Vaccine Safety

Enhance the work of local communities and their partnerships with immunization "champions" to identify, plan, implement, and evaluate evidence-based practices.

The National Vaccine Program (NVP) collaborates with federal partners to provide strategic direction for the coordination of the vaccine and immunization enterprise for the National Vaccine Plan implementation http://www.hhs.gov/nvpo/vacc_plan/2010%20Plan/nationalvaccineplan.pdf. NVP funds grants and cooperative agreements to increase vaccine confidence. Current areas of focus seek to expand, plan, implement, and evaluate promising practices and develop novel approaches to increase vaccine confidence in local communities, particularly through partnerships with organizations that work with populations with low vaccination rates (e.g., African Americans and residents in rural communities). Programmatic goals are centered around: building and maintaining partnerships with local community to determine what specific barriers are preventing confidence in vaccine; developing locally tailored innovative, effective intervention strategies that increase vaccine confidence; and increasing vaccine confidence to help it become a routine part of community vaccination programs, particularly among underserved populations with low vaccine rates.

Any private (either profit or nonprofit) or public entity located in a State is eligible to apply for an award under this NOFO. "State" includes any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any agency or instrumentality thereof exclusive of local governments (45 C.F.R. §75.2). Eligible entities include private (either profit or nonprofit) or public faith-based organizations, community-based organizations, and American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander organizations.

Project activities must not involve the selection or exclusion of participants based on race or ethnicity.

Nonprofit organizations may be requested to provide evidence of tax-exempt status. When projects involve the collaborative efforts of more than one organization or require the use of services or facilities not under the direct control of the applicant, written assurances of specific support or agreements may be required from the affected parties.

Award funds must be used in support of the approved project as awarded or modified by amendment signed by the grants management officer. Federal Cost Principles for Grants and Cooperative Agreements apply as well as any restrictions described in the Notice of Funding Opportunity or Notice of Award.

Awards are generally funded in 12-month budget period(s). Awards may generally have a period of performance of 1 to 3 years, but may be up to 5 years. Support beyond the first year is contingent upon acceptable evidence of satisfactory progress, availability of funds, continuing program relevance, and best interests of the government.

To apply, applicants must access the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) thru www.grants.gov. Enter the Assistance Listing number and follow the website instructions. Applications submitted after the deadlines will not be accepted for review. The submission deadline will not be extended. Applications which do not conform to the requirements of the NOFO will be deemed ineligible and not reviewed. Applications may only be submitted electronically via www.grants.gov. Any applications submitted via any other means of electronic communication, including facsimile or electronic mail, will not be accepted for review.

The rating criteria and the weight attached to each criterion is included in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) that requests project proposals. An independent review panel evaluates applications that pass the screening and meet the responsiveness criteria in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). These reviewers are experts in their fields, and are drawn from academic institutions, non-profit organizations, state and local government, and Federal government agencies. Based on the Application Review Criteria as outlined in the NOFO, the reviewers will comment on and rate the applications, focusing their comments and scoring decisions on the identified criteria. In addition to the independent review panel, Federal staff will review each application for programmatic, budgetary, and grants management compliance.

Applications will be screened upon receipt. Those that are incomplete or arrive after the deadline will not be forwarded for merit review. Applications that fail to meet the eligibility screening criteria will be disqualified and will receive no further consideration. All eligible applications are evaluated for merit by a panel of independent experts who assess the application against the criteria published in the NOFO. After considering the panel reviews, the Office Director makes recommendations to the Grants Management Officer for funding. The Grants Management Officer will conduct a risk assessment in accordance with 45 CFR part 75, and will then make the awards based on the recommendations. All applicants are notified in writing of actions taken on their applications. More information can be found at https://www.hhs.gov/grants/grants/get-ready-for-grants-management/grant-process/index.html.

Support is recommended for a specified period of performance, not in excess of five years. Awards are generally made in 12-month budget periods. Budget periods after the first are generally made after review and approval of a non-competing continuation application subject to satisfactory performance, availability of funds, and the best interest of the government. A recipient may request a no cost extension or may compete for a new under a posted notice of funding opportunity in this program.

All decisions are final including level of funding. There is no appeal process.