CDC’s vaccine scheduling emails are not a scam, spokesperson says
Karen Reed was eagerly awaiting word from state or Virginia Beach health officials that it was her turn for a coronavirus vaccine.
In the meantime, she recently received multiple emails from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention inviting her to schedule a vaccine appointment. Reed, 68, deleted them, thinking it must be just another pandemic scam.
But it wasn’t.
The emails, received by Reed and many others, came through the CDC’s Vaccine Administration Management System. They’re perfectly legitimate, said Dena Potter, spokesperson for Vaccinate Virginia, the state’s centralized preregistration system that launched last month.
VAMS is a program the CDC provided to states to help with vaccine scheduling and clinic management, Potter said in an email.
“Even if someone is preregistered in the state system, if the local health department is using (VAMS) and reaches out to them to schedule an appointment, that’s what the email will look like,” she wrote.
Virginia is currently using five channels to distribute vaccines: local health departments, pharmacies, community vaccination clinics, hospitals and private providers, Potter said. People could therefore be contacted in a variety of ways to schedule an appointment — including an email that looks like the one Reed received.
Across the U.S., states and localities use various online applications to manage their vaccination efforts. VAMS is one of them. You should contact your local health department directly if you want to know which management system they are using.
In Virginia’s eastern region, only Virginia Beach and Western Tidewater are using VAMS, according to a state health department spokesperson.
Reed lives at Russell House in Virginia Beach, a facility for those 62 and older, and knows of at least one neighbor who similarly thought the CDC email was a scam.
She had preregistered for a vaccine through the state early last month — then re-signed up when she later saw her name wasn’t listed.
Prompted by her brother, she ended up following the link in the email and now has her first shot of the Moderna vaccine set for Wednesday at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.
She’s just happy her shots are now in sight, and hopes she can clear up confusion about the emails so others don’t miss theirs.
“It’s a confusing process,” she said. “I’ve never been excited for a shot, but I’m excited for these. I just want to hug my grandkids again.”