The General Counsel of the Office of Information Technology Services said the unauthorized programming link was published this week.
The governor’s office said it was a legitimate internal link, which was erroneously distributed to the public and posted on social media, so that people who had the link “had an unfair advantage that others did not have.”
The connection affected not only Long Islanders but also New Yorkers.
The following statement was published regarding the accidental publication:
“It has been pointed out that an unpublished programming link was distributed without authorization on social networks this week, allowing New Yorkers to make vaccination schedules for state-run sites that are not currently open and that did not take appointments. at Binghamton, Buffalo Plattsburgh, Potsdam, Stony Brook and Utica. Out of an abundance of caution, I sent this matter to the Inspector General. As this pandemic has shown, equity and equal access are essential in the distribution of the vaccine and to ensure that these principles are followed, all unauthorized. appointments have been canceled – we are currently contacting anyone who has used the unauthorized link to inform them of the situation. We will continue to protect all New Yorkers’ information and ensure equal access to the vaccine for all those eligible. As a reminder, the only way to register for vaccinations in state-run locations is through the Department of Health’s Am I Eligible website. “
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Those who have made appointments with this link are informed that their appointments are not valid, and officials say that no one who signed up for these vaccines has received one. The appointments were for sites that have not yet been established, an official said.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said the site should be aired on Friday, and to give everyone a fair shot on the spot, appointments were deleted and made available when they were due to be made available.
“It’s not the first time this has happened,” Cuomo said. “There was a similar case in New York City. Someone sent a notice that there would be a vaccination site and people had flocked to that place.”
The governor’s chief aide, Melissa DeRosa, said there was speculation that the site had been hacked or that someone had removed the link.
“It will be a bigger problem than that, unfortunately, when you have 7 million people and you have such a limited offer, it creates anxiety, fraud, black market,” Cuomo said. “You will see people on the internet saying they will sell the vaccine. You will see a few bottles sold. I would bet on it because they are valuable. You will see piracy, fraud, theft. It is almost predictable, just as ugly and no matter how unhappy it is.”
He added that he has the state attorney general paying attention to these situations.
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Cuomo added that most appointments in the state were booked up to 14 weeks in advance, and most distributors are fully booked.
The state is hoping for more federal allocations.
“The federal government has created a crisis by increasing eligibility, but not by increasing supply,” Cuomo said.
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