Members of the public mistakenly allowed to sign up for Covid-19 vaccination appointments in Kentucky
Members of the general public in Kentucky were mistakenly allowed to sign up for Covid-19 vaccine appointments meant for health care workers, according to Louisville-based health system Baptist Health.
Baptist Health provided the Kentucky Department of Health with an online vaccine appointment scheduling tool that could be linked to the state’s vaccine website for health care workers, Kit Fullenlove Barry, Baptist Health public relations manager, said in a statement to CNN Monday.
The state website linked to a page that outlined that vaccines are available for health care personnel as part of Phase 1a of the vaccine rollout. However, that information that was not included in the scheduling tool.
“As a result, many who viewed the site mistakenly thought the vaccines were open to the general public, although we do not know how many people registered who might be ineligible at this time,” Fullenlove Barry said in the statement.
Baptist Health sites have around 6,000 vaccination appointments scheduled over the next two weeks and the calendar is full. No additional appointments are being accepted at this time.
Appointments made through the online system are still being honored in order to ensure those who are eligible receive a vaccine in a timely manner.
“We continue to ask the community’s help to ensure these vaccines reach our Commonwealth’s healthcare personnel first so we can continue to provide needed care,” the statement said.
“Baptist Health has been working to provide a smooth process for cancellation for anyone who has scheduled a vaccination appointment in error, and will contact the 6,000 people who have registered for these appointments to provide that opportunity.”
Baptist Health said it will continue to partner with the state on vaccine rollout.
“We regret the confusion this has caused our communities and have updated the scheduling tool with the additional information.”
Kentucky is in its first phase of vaccinations, which includes health care workers and those living in long-term and assisted care facilities. The state has administered 130,355 vaccine doses, according to numbers updated by the health department Monday. Kentucky has received 169,350 doses for the state vaccination program and 93,600 doses designated for long term care facilities.
CNN reached out to the Kentucky Department of Health for comment and has yet to receive a response.
