COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation: Texts About 'Extra' Doses Spread In California's Santa Clara County

Texts about "extra" COVID-19 vaccine doses recently circulated in California's Santa Clara County, but officials have warned that the texts were from "unofficial sources." Authorities have been advising the public to stay updated about the vaccine roll-out from official sources to avoid vaccine-related misinformation or fraud.

Community members at Santa Clara County recently received text messages about supposedly extra doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Sent with a registration link, the text messages reportedly suggested that anyone could get vaccinated. However, county officials noted that only those who are qualified can get scheduled for the vaccination.

"To the County's knowledge, these messages originated from unofficial sources," the county statement reads.

In another statement, the county explained that a member of the public appeared to have copied the direct link to schedule an appointment, bypassing the questionnaire that first checks if a person is qualified.

"We know this because we had a huge amount of people show up to Berger [vaccination site] who didn't have an appointment and they told us they were able to get on the appointment list by getting access to CalVax without going through our typical system," County Executive Jeff Smith said.

Smith clarified that the system wasn't hacked, and that county systems remain secure.

The county has sent messages to people schedule for vaccinations explaining that they should cancel their appointments if they are not qualified. So far, apart from health care workers and long-term care facility residents, the county has also begun expanding vaccine access to community members who are age 75 and above.

Apart from this issue with the registration, Santa Clara County officials also noted other reported "vaccine-related scams" in the community and reminded the public to be aware of such tricks.

"The County reminds all residents that no one will be asked to pay out of pocket to get the vaccine or access to any vaccine waiting lists, and that potential scams could come in the form of online advertisements on social media, through email, telephone calls, or from unsolicited or unknown sources," the county statement said.

Federal agencies have also warned about vaccine-related scams. The FBI itself warned the public about possible vaccine fraud schemes amid the global vaccine roll-out, noting several indicators of potential fraud and providing tips to avoid them.

Tips include staying up-to-date with the vaccine roll-out information from official health department websites; checking one's medical bills for possible inconsistencies; and consulting a medical professional before getting vaccinated.