Never mind: Hundreds offered vaccine slots in Miami-Dade, then told it was a mistake

Miami-Dade County this week mistakenly offered more than 400 vaccine appointments to ineligible people, forcing the county to retract the offers for the coveted doses.

The vaccination website run by Utah-based Nomi Health, the private company hired by Miami-Dade to manage appointments, mistakenly sent out 430 invitations on Thursday for people under 65 to schedule vaccine appointments.

While the Nomi site allows people of any age from Miami-Dade to register, only healthcare workers and people 65 and over are supposed to be selected for appointments.

It was the latest flub or shortcoming from the website, which launched earlier this month to some technical glitches and without Spanish or Creole options. The site can be accessed through miamidade.gov/vaccine.

A county administrator overseeing the site said the mistaken vaccine appointments went out while the Spanish and Creole options were being added Thursday.

Nomi website sends out wrong vaccine appointments

“The mistake was caught quickly,” said Greg Rubin, the assistant county fire chief overseeing the operation by Nomi, the healthcare startup that runs the county’s appointments website and staffs vaccine sites. “However, there were 66 people that had booked already for that. We sent a corrections email, with an apology. We’re directly reaching out to those folks, to cancel their appointment.”

While Florida limits vaccine doses for the general public to people 65 and over, Miami-Dade’s registration website for the vaccine waiting list has no age restrictions. County representatives said they wanted people of all ages to sign up to gauge demand, and to create a mailing list of people interested in vaccines once they become eligible.

Martin Keane received one of the mistaken appointment announcements. The Miami lawyer in his 40s registered when the site launched, as did his wife. The email both had been waiting for arrived Thursday shortly after 7:20 p.m.

“Thank you for setting up an appointment to receive the COVID-19 Vaccine,” the Nomi email said. “We have confirmed your request and look forward to seeing you at the time and date below.”

The Keanes followed the instructions and secured two slots at Miami Dade College’s North campus, a place that’s only open for vaccines to people with appointments.

“We had to put in our birthdays,” he said. “If there was an age restriction, you’d think it wouldn’t let you book an appointment. But there was no issue.”

No age restriction for Miami-Dade vaccination website

For Keane, the appointment allowed him to start thinking about life after COVID-19 fears. He quickly shared the good news with his parents, both in their 80s and living in Chicago.

“I haven’t been able to visit them in over a year,” he said. “I was beyond excited to tell them last night and we were making plans to see them.”

Three hours later, new emails arrived with the subject lines: “CORRECTION: Appointment email sent in error.” Keane’s reaction: “Disappointed would be an understatement...”

Nomi was founded just two years ago, and has surged to national prominence by securing emergency COVID contracts across the country. That’s brought scrutiny, too. Tennessee pulled out of its contract with Nomi in June after deciding it didn’t want the company’s coronavirus tests.

In an email to senior aides Thursday evening, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava called the error “unacceptable.”

“At a time when so many people are so desperate for the vaccine, it’s unacceptable to give the false impression that vaccines are available to those who are currently ineligible,” the mayor wrote to J.D. Patterson, the county’s chief public safety officer, and Dr. Peter Paige, the Jackson Health administrator who serves as Levine Cava’s chief medical officer. “Please work with the vendor to ensure systems are put in place to prevent this from happening again.”

This story was originally published February 12, 2021 at 3:58 PM.