Vaccine messages blocked for 2,900 numbers

Regional officials have been working with Telus to send new texts to those affected

WATERLOO REGION — About 2,900 phone numbers on the Telus network were blocked from receiving text notifications about vaccine appointments in Waterloo Region.

The Region of Waterloo’s COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force has been working with Telus to identify the numbers affected by the error, which also includes phone companies like Koodo that use the Telus network.

Telus said it was notified last Friday that it had been blocking some of its subscribers who had preregistered for the COVID-19 vaccine through the region’s online booking system. The telecommunications company said it fixed the problem in “little over an hour” after it was flagged.

The region has since been engaging with other phone companies to ensure similar blocks were not happening on other networks.

On Tuesday, the region began sending new texts to every mobile number that was blocked by Telus with the information required to book the COVID-19 vaccine online.

Appointments will be made available in the coming days and weeks for anyone impacted by the issue, a news release said.

Vaccine preregistration has only been available to select segments of the population to date. The Telus error was caught before thousands of other Telus users would have preregistered in the coming weeks and months.

During a regional council meeting on Tuesday, medical officer of health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang confirmed the region

will be sticking with its plan to open preregistration on an incremental level.

This comes after people living in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph were notified on Tuesday that anyone over the age of 16 is now eligible to apply for their vaccine.

It plans to have at least 75 per cent of eligible residents vaccinated by the end of June, which means many will be waiting multiple months in the system before being notified of their appointment.

Wang said the region chose to keep its preregistered groups “tighter” so that people aren’t waiting up to four months after registration to get their vaccine appointment.

During a question period during Tuesday’s council meeting, Kitchener Mayor Barry Vrbanovic asked the task force to revisit opening up preregistration to more groups, calling it one of the most common issues he’s heard from residents.

He also asked to investigate whether the region could start sending email confirmations to those who have preregistered to give them peace of mind that they are in the system.

“As a former IT guy, I would tell you that if nothing else, we should be able to get a daily dump of email addresses that preregistered and … send out our own emails to people — we don’t need a rocket science solution to this,” said Vrbanovic.

Bruce Lauckner, the region’s chief administrator, said the task force will investigate the issue and he will report back to council with the findings.

Information on who is currently eligible to preregister for a vaccine is available on the region’s website.

Robert Williams is a Waterloo Region-based reporter for The Record. Reach him via email: robertwilliams@torstar.ca