The Department of Public Health and Social Services is informing the public that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will conduct the 2024 National Immunization Survey in Guam, starting in April 2024.

With the survey expected to be ongoing for several months or until the CDC collects their data, CDC’s contractor, National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, will administer the Guam NIS.

This survey is intended to help assess immunization coverage among children 19 to 35 months of age, and adolescents between the ages of 13 to 17 years old.

DPHSS Chief Medical Officer and Pediatrician Dr. Robert Leon Guerrero said, “We ask the public that if you are called to please cooperate, as the information collected is important.”

The no-charge, off-island telephone numbers will be the following:

(404) 809-2644
(404) 809-2195
(404) 806-4810
(404) 806-4811
(404) 806-4812

The NIS is a random digital-dial telephone survey used to find households with children between the ages of 19 to 35 months or 13 to 17 years of age living in the home.

Parents or guardians will be asked to provide information on the date and type of vaccinations given to their children. At the end of the interview, authorization to contact their child's vaccination provider will be requested from the parent or guardian.

The health care provider will then be contacted by mail to verify the child's vaccinations. All data collected will be sent to the CDC for analysis and then provided to the DPHSS Immunization Program to compare Guam’s vaccination rates with those of other states and territories.

The data gathered by NIS is used to identify groups at risk of vaccine-preventable diseases, to provide feedback coverage in an effort to increase coverage, and to evaluate the effectiveness of programs designed to increase coverage.

If you have any questions concerning the NIS, please contact the DPHSS Immunization Program, at (671) 735-7143/148/160.