San Mateo County vaccination alert error causes confusion

“We regret the confusion. We understand people are rightfully concerned about getting the vaccine,” San Mateo County Health Spokesman Preston Merchant said.

Merchant said the county would reexamine the Everbridge Emergency Alert System it uses for vaccinations over the weekend and release a statement Monday with more information.

The first alert sent out Friday around 1:50 p.m. via text or email to residents, saying free COVID-19 vaccinations were available at San Mateo High School. It said, “The County of San Mateo has free COVID-19 vaccinations available for people 18 years of age or older. Walk-ups without an appointment are welcome, however making an appointment is strongly encouraged.” It also said the vaccinations were on a first-come, first-serve basis, and people had to arrive no later than 6 p.m.

Not mentioned in the first alert was that people must still meet the current county eligibility standards, which are people 50 or older, those with qualifying medical conditions, and workers in the health care, education, agriculture, public transit fields, among others.

An estimated 100 people who showed up for shots at San Mateo High School were denied. Some waited in line for two hours before being told they were not eligible and could not get the vaccine. A few stormed off in anger while others waited for clarification from staff as to what was happening.

Mass updates from vaccine clinic staff at the high school began around 3:30 p.m. leading to a large clearing of people in line. A second message from the county alert system went out at 4:16 p.m. that said: “Schedule and availability has not matched earlier plans. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

Merchant said he first became aware of the issue at around 2:30 p.m. and began working on figuring out what was happening. The county is still determining how many people received the alert and what led so many ineligible people to receive an alert. Merchant did not know who sent the message without the proper context.

“We are looking into how this all came together and how we can streamline and coordinate better in the future,” he said.

Merchant said the alert system has a geolocation component that tries to target particular zip codes and areas for outreach, which it was trying to do, but in this case, was inaccurate and sent alerts to unintended people.

The county will look at the alert system to understand the limitations of the technology to ensure errors don’t happen again. He was unsure if the county would try to help or prioritize people who went to the San Mateo High School vaccination site on Friday.

“I’m not sure. We are going to have to assess all of it,” Merchant said.

Terre Baldwin, 60, a longtime San Mateo resident, arrived at the high school around 3 p.m. and ended up getting the vaccine after 5 p.m. She is a heart transplant recipient who has been searching online for appointments the last two weeks, even getting up in the middle of the night to try and find appointments.

She is happy she got her vaccine but was disappointed others who waited in line for hours were not eligible. She received the alert and thought it meant everyone could go, and she even called her son to let him know vaccines were being given out.

“The way it was written, I thought that meant anyone was qualified. That was what everyone I was close to thought,” Baldwin said.

She estimates at least 100 people left after being told they were not eligible, and she saw a man who said he was 61 storm away after being denied.

She said staffers at the makeshift clinic did not work for the county and were not aware of the miscommunication but were helpful and responsive despite the confusion.

Merchant understood people’s frustration, given that people got the message and took time off work or other actives to try and get the vaccination. He said the county remains committed to making sure everybody gets the vaccination.