A minor update on my FOIA request

It's been nearly 3 weeks since I sent a request for an update on the decision making process for my Freedom of Information Act request to the CDC for some of the raw numbers from the NISVS. To be sure my letter was received, I sent it delivery confirmation.

I haven't received either confirmation of delivery, or my letter returned as undeliverable. In my experience, this is an unusually slow pace for delivery confirmation mail, but I have never had a delivery failure with that system. I suspect that my letter probably had to sit in the Atlanta, Georgia post office for the duration of the time the addressee is given to pick it up following a failed attempt at delivery, and this will be my first "undeliverable" notice.

Checking on the CDC's FOIA status request page, however, does show that there's been a change. I've been upgraded from "Pending Program Search."

I'm still not holding my breath. This doesn't tell me how much the information is going to cost, or whether the request has even been approved - though there isn't a legal basis for disapproving it - so it's a change, not a promise. Still, it means that there's some kind of forward motion on the case, and when trying to get anything from an agency of the American federal government, that in and of itself is remarkable.

So that's it - not a huge update, just a quick note, and a little hope.