A unique situation appears to have caused delays for a 92-year-old Latham woman trying to get a COVID-19 booster shot.
Mali Shanahan said she was recently denied a booster shot at her local pharmacy because according to the New York State Immunization Information System, she had already received five doses.
A sixth dose has not been approved by health officials.
"I want to be safe,” Shanahan said. “I don’t want to get COVID."
Spectrum News 1 contacted the state Department of Health and Shanahan’s primary care office.
It appears a clerical error likely occurred. Either Shanahan or her local pharmacy provided an incorrect date of a previous vaccination. This information, when relayed to her primary care doctor, is added to the state’s registry and if the dates don’t match up, it will show a person received more doses of the vaccine than they actually have.
If this does happen, state health officials said it normally can be corrected with a phone call or two to the patient’s primary care office.
Shanahan’s family was able to rectify the situation, and she received a booster shot Friday morning.
"I wonder how many people may have the same problem that don’t have an advocate to be the person calling, emailing and following up,” Shanahan’s son Tom said. “I think there has got to be a better way to manage the information."
State health officials said it appears to be an isolated incident.