CAPE TOWN - Imagine being told you cannot be registered to vaccinate because your ID number has been linked to the details of someone outside the province.
This is what a shocked Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) lecturer Dr Rolene Liebenberg, of Meadowridge, was told when she went to register for the vaccine in June. She was told that her ID number was already on the national Department of Health vaccination database – under a different name.
“The National Department of Health call centre staff provided me with the contact details of the person who registered using my ID. The lady was an elderly woman from a rural village, in Limpopo, and I discovered that she was registered by a health worker from the Messina Hospital,” Liebenberg said.
“I could not find out whether this lady was using a fraudulent ID, so I proceeded to inform the police to investigate, as well as the Department of Home Affairs. Home Affairs confirmed this was not a case of ID fraud, but a simple error – as her ID only differed by one digit.
“The case was immediately reported on the National Department of Health website, so that the error could be corrected.”
She said she did not follow up because she was undergoing an operation, and was advised to wait for three months before taking the vaccine.
“I have never been an anti-vax person. I have a science background and I know how important it is to get vaccinated. I really want to be fully vaccinated when we return to campus in November, when our students will be writing their final examinations.
“So, after exactly three months, I went back to check whether I could register and I was disappointed to find out that the error was not corrected. Clearly, the process of correcting errors of this nature needs attention. There is the danger that people may give up trying to get vaccinated, simply because an input error is not corrected,” Liebenberg said.
She was informed on Wednesday, by the department, that the error was corrected and she then got her vaccine.
Milani Wolmarans, of the national Department of Health, said there have been issues relating to ID errors, that have been reported to the department, however, they were minimal.
“We deal with them on a case-by-case basis, as they get reported to us. It’s often just because of a typographical error, we haven’t found any intentional ID fraud as yet.
“Because it's personal data and the vaccine is associated with a medical record, therefore, we have very strict processes and there isn’t one case of this nature that we couldn’t resolve,” she said.
Anyone experiencing similar issues can report their issues to the department through email at [email protected].
Cape Times