Baptist Health provided the Kentucky Department of Health with an online vaccine scheduling tool that can be linked to the state’s vaccine website for healthcare professionals, said Kit Fullenlove Barry, public relations manager at Baptist Health, in a statement to CNN on Monday.
The state’s website has a link to a page that describes that vaccines are available to healthcare professionals as part of Phase 1a of the vaccine launch. However, this information was not included in the scheduling tool.
“As a result, many who viewed the site mistakenly thought that the vaccines were open to the general public, although we do not know how many registered people may be ineligible at the moment,” said Fullenlove Barry in the statement.
Baptist Health centers have about 6,000 vaccination appointments scheduled for the next two weeks and the calendar is full. No further commitments are being accepted at this time.
Appointments made through the online system are still being honored to ensure that those eligible receive the vaccine in a timely manner.
“We continue to ask the community for help to ensure that these vaccines reach community health personnel first, so that we can continue to provide the necessary care,” the statement said.
“Baptist Health has been working to provide a smooth cancellation process for anyone who has mistakenly scheduled a vaccination appointment, and will contact the 6,000 people who signed up for these appointments to provide this opportunity.”
Baptist Health said it will continue to partner with the state in the distribution of vaccines.
“We regret the confusion this has caused in our communities and update the scheduling tool with additional information.”
Kentucky is in its first vaccination phase, which includes healthcare professionals and those living in long-term care facilities. The state administered 130,355 doses of vaccines, according to figures updated by the health department on Monday. Kentucky received 169,350 doses for the state vaccination program and 93,600 doses assigned to long-term care facilities.
CNN has contacted the Kentucky Department of Health for comment and has yet to receive a response.