Vital Statistics Rapid Release

The Vital Statistics Rapid Release program provides access to the timeliest vital statistics for public health surveillance, through releases of: 1) Quarterly Provisional Estimates, 2) Vital Statistics Rapid Release Reports, 3) focused surveillance activities, and 4) state and national provisional control counts of births, deaths and infant deaths based on a current flow of vital statistics data from state vital records offices. Using the provisional data, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) produces much more timely estimates of important health indicators for public health practitioners, researchers, and health policy-makers than would be possible using final annual data.