Records request related to COVID-19 vaccine doses (Department of Health and Mental Hygiene)

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Request Title: Records request related to COVID-19 vaccine doses (Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Request Description: To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:

(1) any and all data on the number of wasted, spoiled or expired COVID-19 vaccine doses from 12/11/2020 to 01/26/2021 and (2) any and all data on the total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered from 12/11/2020 to 01/26/2021.

Please note that I am a member of the news media as evidenced by my published work for Kaiser Health News at www.khn.org and this request is being made for news gathering purposes. Any questions should be routed to myself via email or by phone at 703-731-7918.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Rachana Pradhan

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Requester's Contact Information



Name:
Rachana Pradhan

Title:
Not provided

Organization:
Not provided

Email:
requests@muckrock.com (mailto:requests@muckrock.com)

Phone Number:
Not provided

Fax Number:
Not provided

Street Address (line 1):
Not provided

Street Address (line 2):
Not provided

City:
Not provided

State:
Not provided

Zip Code:
Not provided

Please contact the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) via email at foil@health.nyc.gov
for any further information. (mailto:foil@health.nyc.gov)

FOIL Control #: 2021FR00285

The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) acknowledges receipt of your Freedom of Information Law request. It has been assigned the above-noted control number and has been forwarded to the following bureau for processing. You should receive a response within twenty(20) business days. Please note that as of January 1, 2019, the Department will be charging the statutorily allowable fee of 25¢ per page for FOIL responses.

All inquiries about the status of your request should be made with the control number noted above.

Thank you,

FOIL Administration(sb)

New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

347-396-6011 (ph.)

347-396-6087 (f)

recordsaccess@health.nyc.gov<mailto:recordsaccess@health.nyc.gov>

Dear Rachana Pradan:

I write in response to your Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request to the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) dated February 1, 2021 with the control number referenced above. Your request, attached above, seeks information exclusively housed within the Citywide Immunization Registry (CIR). Since responding to your request would violate the confidentiality provisions of the Public Health Law (PHL) relating to the CIR as set forth below, your request is denied.

The permissible use and disclosure of data stored within the CIR is governed by PHL §2168, which provides that all information maintained by the city of New York in the CIR shall be confidential except as necessary to carry out the provisions of the statute and shall not be released for any other purpose. §2168(4)(a). While PHL §2168 (8)(e) authorizes the release of de-identified registrant information contained within the CIR to institutes of higher education, medical research centers, or other institutions engaged in epidemiological research or other public health research, as a news organization, you do not qualify for this access. In addition, PHL § 2168(9) and New York City Health Code §§ 11.07(b) and 11.11(d) further prohibit release of this data. Under Public Officers Law §87(2)(a), an agency may deny a request for records that is specifically exempted from disclosure be state or federal statute. Since the records you have requested are specifically exempted from disclosure under FOIL pursuant to state law, your request is denied.

You may file a written denial of this appeal within 30 days of this message. The appeal should be addressed to:

Chari Anhouse, Esquire

Appeals Officer and Associate General Counsel

recordsaccess@health.nyc.gov<mailto:recordsaccess@health.nyc.gov>

The notice of appeal should include the request control number, the date of this denial message, a description of the records that were the subject of the request, the specific legal grounds for your appeal, and the full name and address of the original requester.

Sincerely,

Bernadette O'Donnell
Records Access Officer / Agency Attorney
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
42-09 28th St., CN 14-29
Long Island City, NY 11101

Sent from the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene. This email and any files transmitted with it may contain confidential information and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept for the presence of computer viruses.