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GPs flooded with calls after Covid-19 vaccine texts sent in error

Others who should have been notified they could get a vaccine weren’t.

The Ministry of Health has apologised for further confusion over the vaccine rollout after some younger New Zealanders were told in error that they were in a higher priority group.

General practices say they’ve been flooded with calls from patients who received a text saying they were in group three - despite not fitting the criteria - meanwhile some who are eligible missed out on the message.

Group three is supposed to include those who are 65 or over, pregnant, disabled, have an underlying health condition (including obesity or severe mental health illness) or are eligible for the publicly-funded flu vaccine.

Hayley Shepperd, 24, got the text yesterday saying she was in group three and would soon be invited to book her vaccination.

According to the 1 NEWS Colmar Brunton Poll 56 per cent of people say they’ll definitely get the jab.

“I thought it was a scam… I’ve got no underlying health issues, I'm 24, there’s no reason I would be in that group and no warning from my doctor, either.”

Meanwhile Wellington asthmatic Brenda Wallace didn’t get a message, even though she’s eligible for the publicly-funded flu vaccine - one of the criteria for group three.

“My asthma this year hasn't been particularly under control. I've had to call an ambulance twice and been quite unwell… My husband got the text. I have no idea why… he doesn't have any health conditions.”

The Ministry of Health’s Covid-19 vaccinations group manager, Astrid Koornneef, said a “small number” of people appear to have received the message in error, but wouldn’t say how many.

“I want to thank everyone who reported this to us and apologise for any confusion it has caused. We are looking into the matter and at this stage, we are unaware of any system issue that may have led to people receiving a Group 3 text message in error.

“There are a variety of reasons which mean some people may have been mistakenly captured by the text messages – instances of outdated patient information, for example.”

A screenshot of a text sent out by the Ministry of Health yesterday erroneously telling some people that they were in a higher priority group for the Covid-19 vaccine.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says he’s looking into the issue.

“Clearly, if they had no other reason to be getting a message, for example they didn't have any underlying health conditions or so on -yes, they should not have received a message.”

One Wellington practice nurse told 1 NEWS she’s frustrated the incident has resulted in even more calls about the vaccine rollout from patients than usual.

“We’ve had dozens of calls from people saying they don’t understand why they’re in group three… we don’t even know and we have all their data,” she said.

Covid-19 response officials emailed medical practices about the text, acknowledging they “may have created some unwelcome demand… Thank you for your patience with this and we are certainly taking your feedback on board”.

Dr Bryan Betty from the Royal NZ College of GPs says the system for identifying which vaccine group people belong to is a “rough tool”.

“If you had an operation as a child for a heart operation which isn't relevant now, that could get picked up… That's just part and parcel of what is a reasonably insensitive system for picking up who is in sequence three.”

Vaccine supply is also a concern. Around 1.7 million people are in group three and are supposed to be able to book their jabs this month. Hipkins says we don’t have the supply right now.

“Not at the moment, we have been clear about that, but we will have enough vaccines for them.”

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