Eastern Health and the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information is putting more stringent protocols in place after 2,800 people were able to prematurely book their COVID-19 vaccination appointments.

The error occurred with the Pomelo online portal, which was also used with booking for flu clinics last fall.

The error involves the access code stage of the process. When it is time to book your appointment, the health authority will contact you with an access code that must be entered in order to confirm.

Eastern Health CEO David Diamond says it appears that those codes were shared between multiple people. He doesn’t believe anyone was trying to intentionally trying to jump the queue. He thinks this was a case of neighbours and family members trying to help each other book by sharing their codes with each other.

Diamond says all appointments that were booked as a result of the error were aged 70 and above, and would have been on the list to get vaccinated soon anyway. All of those appointments will be honoured.

They are hoping to get back on track by April 2, with an expedited process for those over 80.

Stephen Clark, CEO of the centre for Health information, says long term solutions are being looked at, and some immediate changes have been made.

All of the old codes have been disabled and new codes that expire within 48 hours will be issued to those who need them.