Communications between the CDC and Montefiore Medical Center (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID))

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

A) All emails sent between January 1, 2020 and August 5, 2021 by officials of your agency/ institute to any Montefiore Leadership containing the following keywords (case insensitive): "vaccine" | "vaccines" | "vaccinate" | "vaccination" | "vaccinated" | "vaccinations" | "vax" | "vaxxed"
B) All emails sent between January 1, 2020 and August 5, 2021 by officials of your agency/ institute to any Montefiore Leadership containing the following keywords (case insensitive): "moderna" | "modernatx" | "pfizer" | "astrazeneca" | "johnson & johnson" | "j&j" | "jnj" | "biontech"
C) All emails sent between January 1, 2020 and August 5, 2021 by officials of your agency/ institute to any Montefiore Leadership containing the following keywords (case insensitive): "powell"
D) All emails sent between January 1, 2020 and August 5, 2021 by Anthony Fauci (Director of NIAID) to any Montefiore Leadership
E) All emails sent between January 1, 2020 and August 5, 2021 by Anthony Fauci (Director of NIAID) to an AECOM or MMC email address (i.e. email addresses containing the following in their domains: "einsteinmed.org" | "einstein.yu.edu" | "montefiore.org")
F) All emails sent between January 1, 2020 and August 5, 2021 by officials of your agency/ institute to Gordon Tomaselli (Chief Academic Officer at Montefiore Medicine)
G) All emails sent between January 1, 2020 and August 5, 2021 by officials of your agency/ institute to Harris Goldstein (Associate Dean for Scientific Resources at AECOM)

DEFINITIONS:
* "Montefiore Leadership" includes Philip O. Ozuah (CEO), Colleen M. Blye (CFO), Gordon Tomaselli (CAO), Susan Green-Lorenzen (COO), Christopher S. Panczner (CLO), Andrew D. Racine (CMO), Sarah Berlenbach, Rick Chandler, Marcos A. Crespo, Joseph D'Amico (CSO), Kathleen Kearns (CPO), Gloria Kenny (CHRO), Edward Pfleging, Stephen Rosenthal, Peter P. Semczuk, Joe Somonese, Jack Wolf, Harris Goldstein, Rick Kitsis and Thomas Rohan. For clarification, many of their profiles are listed on Montefiore Medical Center's website here: https://www.montefiore.org/about-leadership
* "MMC" refers to Montefiore Medical Center, Montefiore Health System and its subsidiaries. For clarification, their website is https://www.montefiore.org/
* "AECOM" refers to Albert Einstein College of Medicine. For clarification, their website is https://einsteinmed.org/

GUIDELINES:
* Include all attachments and images attached after the body of the email containing the attachment
* Include the names of all To/CC/BCC
* Return each lettered request above in separate electronic documents
* Organize each document first by name of sender, then by date sent from earliest to latest (e.g. all emails from "Jane Doe" in date order followed by all emails from "John Smith" in date order and so on)

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 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Indigo

Good morning!

Thank you for the timely response.

For the purposes of narrowing scope, I'd like to amend my requests thusly:

A) All emails sent between January 1, 2020 and August 5, 2021 by Specified Officials to any Montefiore Leadership containing the following keywords (case insensitive): "vaccine" | "vaccines" | "vaccinate" | "vaccination" | "vaccinated" | "vaccinations" | "vax" | "vaxxed"
B) All emails sent between January 1, 2020 and August 5, 2021 by Specified Officials to any Montefiore Leadership containing the following keywords (case insensitive): "moderna" | "modernatx" | "pfizer" | "astrazeneca" | "johnson & johnson" | "j&j" | "jnj" | "biontech"
C) All emails sent between January 1, 2020 and August 5, 2021 by Specified Officials to any Montefiore Leadership containing the following keywords (case insensitive): "powell"
F) All emails sent between January 1, 2020 and August 5, 2021 by Specified Officials to Gordon Tomaselli (Chief Academic Officer at Montefiore Medicine)
G) All emails sent between January 1, 2020 and August 5, 2021 by Specified Officials to Harris Goldstein (Associate Dean for Scientific Resources at AECOM)

DEFINITIONS:
"Specified Officials" includes any official in the Office of the Director (including but not limited to the Director, Senior Leadership, IOD and OSMO)

All lettered requests not amended above are to be honored as originally written in the initial request.

Given the subject matter being requested, this request is clearly in the public interest and will likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government; additionally, as stated in the initial request, "the requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes." I respectfully request any fees be waived in accordance with what is outlined here: https://foia.state.gov/Request/Fees.aspx

Thank you,
Indigo

Good afternoon,

Thank you again for the timely response.

For the purposes of narrowing scope, I'd like to amend my requests such that the definition of "Specified Officials" in my previous correspondence now includes only Anthony Fauci (Director of NIAID), Hugh Auchincloss (NIAID Principle Deputy Director), H. Clifford Lane (NIAID Deputy Director), Matthew J. Fenton (Director of the Division of Extramural Activities), John R. Mascola (Director of VRC), Jill R. Harper (Deputy Director for Science Management), Alan Embry, and Gregory K. Folkers.

This new scope of seven officials should suffice as a reasonable scope. Please let me know if my fee waiver has been accepted.

Thank you again,
Indigo

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on August 6, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.

Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.

To Whom It May Concern:

Please find enclosed a check for $126.50 to satisfy the fee associated with the attached public records request.

Thank you.

To Whom It May Concern:

Below you'll see my attached check for the public records request. I have not received any acknowledgement or responsive documents. I would appreciate an update on my request.

Thank you,
Indigo