New York State canceled 20,000 consultations for COVID-19 vaccines on Thursday after a scheduling link was leaked prematurely to the general public.
According to state officials, reservations involved the state-run website at Stony Brook University Hospital on Long Island. The site should not be up until Friday, according to Melisa DeRosa, aide to Governor Andrew Cuomo.
“The hypothesis is that it was hacked or someone leaked the link,” DeRosa told reporters at a news conference on Friday morning.
A lawyer at the State Information Technology Services Office said clinics in Binghamton, Buffalo, Plattsburgh, Potsdam and Utica were also affected, leading to cancellations. A health department spokesman said the state had suspended consultations for an additional 2,400 people in those locations. The incident was referred to the New York State inspector general for investigation.
“Two appointments at Stony Brook for my older parents canceled,” a person tweeted on Thursday night. “Really continuing to take care of our vulnerable elderly people, it seems. Very well. “
Two appointments at Stony Brook for my older parents were canceled. Really continuing to care for our vulnerable elderly, it seems 😞. Very well. Make the elderly a PRIORITY and DO. IT IS. RIGHT.
– Tara P (@TaraPrimis) January 15, 2021
Asked about the matter during the briefing, Governor Andrew Cuomo responded by saying “This is not the first time this has happened, right? There have been similar cases, ”a reference to the crowds that converged on the Brooklyn Army Terminal at Sunset Park on Thursday. In that case, word spread on social media that the city was administering extra vaccines on a first-come, first-served basis. A spokesman for Stony Brook University Hospital referred our questions to the New York State Department of Health.
It’s a mess. Some members of my family and colleagues applied when thousands opened for Stony Brook yesterday and today they received emails stating that it is not a valid vaccination site and their applications have been canceled.
– Kristen Picone (@ Kpteach5) January 15, 2021
“[The state] has exclusive responsibility and authority to determine the vaccine’s eligibility … and when on-site appointments will be made available on the state’s website, ”said Stony Brook’s spokesman.
New Yorkers also criticized the state’s vaccination site as confusing and problematic.
DeRosa said that the increase in eligibility in the past few days has caused a huge increase in web traffic, “causing the servers to crash”.
“We understand the frustration of someone getting the link without knowing that there was a dishonest intention behind how it was publicized,” she said. “However, there are seven million people competing for 250,000 doses, and the system has to be fair.”
This story has been updated with additional data from the state of New York.