Is that phone call asking about COVID vaccines legitimate?

By: Scott Fallon
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... Despite laws designed to prevent them, New Jerseyans still get a spate of weird, unwanted phone calls form scammers looking to swindle them out of money and sales reps looking to legitimately make money.
..... But one call that fall outside of those areas is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
..... The CDC is calling households as part of its National Immunization Survey, in which it asks a series of questions to assess vaccination coverage in children and COVID-19 vaccinations among adults.
..... The information, which has been gathered nationwide since 1994, is used to collect data and determine the rate of immunization coverage for various parts of the U.S.
..... The program was designed in the 1990s, after a measles outbreak in the late 1980s and early 1990s in some of the nation's biggest cities, including New York and Philadelphia.
..... More than 55,000 were sickened and 100 died, said a report by NPR.
..... On Wednesday, [02/28/2024] the CDC approved recommendations for adutls 65 and over to receive a second COVID-19 vaccination shot for this season. COVID transmission was low in most of New Jersey, a February 17 [2024] report said.
..... Three South Jersey counties - Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland - had medium transmission levels.
..... CDC phone numbers that would appear on caller ID are:
* 404-809-2644
* 404-809-2195
* 404-806-4810
* 404-806-4811
* 404-806-4812
* The Caller ID also may identify the caller as "CDC NATL IMMUN."

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