Some People Turned Away From First-Dose Appointments At Baltimore COVID-19 Vaccination Site Due To Registration Confusion
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A number of people were turned away Tuesday after showing up to the Baltimore City Community College COVID-19 vaccination site, anticipating getting their first dose of the vaccination.
"There were quite a few people who showed up, maybe approximately 25% of all those who had signed up for the month of February for the first dose are actually inappropriately signed up," Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Letitia Dzirasa said.
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But as it turns out, the health department is not scheduling first-dose vaccination appointments for the entire month of February.
So, how did this happen? Baltimore City uses a state-managed online scheduling system.
Dr. Dzirasa said, when people leave their first-dose appointment, they're given an individual link to sign up for their second dose.
Officials think the link intended only for second-dose appointments may have been sent out to others.
Dr. Dzirasa said once the health department discovered this issue, an email was sent out to those signed up for first-dose appointments, asking to cancel. But the problem didn't stop there.
"However, the state system, because it's automatic, still sent them communication indicating they had an appointment coming up, so we recognize that was confusing to folks," Dr. Dzirasa said.
Baltimore City health officials are now looking into ways to make sure this doesn't happen again.
"I would urge people to please continue to be patient," Dr. Dzirasa said.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott responded to the issue during a press conference Wednesday.
"They had a link that they shouldn't have had. That link was for folks getting that second dose. It was shared out with some folks who shouldn't have had it," he said.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
