SILVER SPRING, Md. — More than 2,000 people who signed up to get vaccinated for COVID-19 at Holy Cross Hospital are not eligible to do so, the hospital said over the weekend.
Holy Cross emailed its active medical staff members on Jan. 1 to remind them to sign-up for a slot to get a COVID-19 vaccine. The company's internal email was forwarded to friends, family and members of the community, leading to people outside of the Group 1A members (largely frontline medical workers) to sign up for a shot.
Holy Cross officials said they sent the internal email as a means to encourage and remind its health care workers of their eligibility for either the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccination, and that it was not intended for the community at large.
After reviewing the vaccine sign-up sheet, Holy Cross officials said over 2,000 community members have signed up for spots they never should have been eligible for.
"At this point in time, Holy Cross Hospital and Holy Cross Germantown Hospital have only enough vaccine to take care of colleagues and active medical staff. We are only vaccinating colleagues and active medical staff and not the community at large," the medical system said in a statement.
Holy Cross is still urging its medical staff to get vaccinated and are asking members of the community to be patient.
They have also asked Prepmod, the system that the state of Maryland is using for vaccine clinic registration and sign up, to cancel the slots community members signed up for. They said community members outside the 1A Group should receive an email that their appointment has been canceled.
Read the full statement below:
"On New Year's Eve, Holy Cross Health Chief Clinical Officer emailed their colleagues and active medical staff to remind them of their eligibility for vaccination and to encourage them to sign up for an upcoming clinic. That internal email was shared by some with friends, family and our community at large. At this point in time, Holy Cross Hospital and Holy Cross Germantown Hospital have only enough vaccine to take care of colleagues and active medical staff. We are only vaccinating colleagues and active medical staff and not the community at large.
If you, or someone you know signed up for a Holy Cross clinic, please know that clinic has been canceled, community members who are not a colleague or active on the medical staff will not be vaccinated. Everyone who signed up through a link in the State's Prepmod system should be receiving an email that their clinic has been canceled.
We understand and are grateful for the eagerness of the community to be vaccinated. We are working with county and state officials to support that vaccination when the time comes.
Again, for now, Holy Cross will only be providing COVID-19 vaccinations for the CDC assigned group 1a colleagues and medical staff."
