Ministry of Health says a small number of people mistakenly received a text saying they’re in group 3, and "apologise for any confusion caused".

Mass text messages advising people who thought they were in group 4 that they would soon receive an invitation for the Covid-19 vaccine, despite very tight supply, left many scratching their heads.
Texts sent to Aucklanders and about 83,000 people in Wellington on Wednesday and Thursday saw many take to social media to express their surprise and confusion about getting a call-up.
The Ministry of Health says it is unaware of any issues in the system that may have led to people receiving a group 3 text in error, but that a very small number of people contacted their GP or district health board to say they appeared to have been texted by mistake.
Many people who received a text message like this overnight expressed surprise on social media that they were considered group 3.
So what makes a person group 3 and not group 4? Heres a CTRL+F friendly breakdown of who qualifies.
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Group 3 is big encompassing about 1.7 million New Zealanders over the age of 16.
Broadly speaking, it covers those 65 and older, people with a relevant health condition or disability (including those eligible for a free flu jab), people caring for a person with a disability, pregnant people (in any trimester), and adults in custodial settings.
Health conditions
People with the following conditions are eligible for a free flu vaccine, and therefore are considered group 3:

• Ischaemic heart disease, congestive heart failure, congenital heart disease, or cerebrovascular disease
• Asthma (if on a regular preventative therapy), or other chronic respiratory disease with impaired lung function, including chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, emphysema
• Diabetes
• Chronic renal disease
• Have any cancer, except for basal and squamous skin cancers, if not invasive
• Auto-immune diseases, including: coeliac disease, Crohns disease, Graves disease, Hashimotos thyroiditis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or immune suppression or immune deficiency
• HIV
• Transplant recipients
• Neuromuscular or central nervous system diseases or disorders, such as: cerebral palsy, congenital myopathy, epilepsy, hydrocephaly, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, myasthenia gravis, Parkinsons disease, and spinal cord injury
• Haemoglobinopathies, including sickle cell anaemia and thalassemia
• Children taking aspirin long-term
• People with cochlear implants
• Are pre- or post-splenectomy
• Down syndrome

The Ministry of Health apologised for any confusion caused to people who believe they received the notification in error.
People who have been diagnosed with severe mental illness, including schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder also qualify for early access to the vaccine under group 3.
The same goes for adults currently accessing secondary and tertiary mental health and addiction services.
People who have poorly controlled or severe hypertension (high blood pressure) who require two or more medications to control the condition also fit the bill.
People who are severely obese who have a BMI of 40 or greater are also in group 3.
Disability
Disabled people, for the purposes of the Covid-19 vaccination, includes anyone who has an impairment expected to last for six months or longer, and limits their ability to carry out daily activities or participate in society on an equal basis to others.
The Ministry of Health says this can be due to the interaction of a persons impairment with societal and environmental barriers such as inaccessibility, rather than caused by the impairment itself.
This includes impairments that are:

• physical
• neurological
• mental/psychiatric
• intellectual
• sensory
• other types of impairment.

The ministry failed to elaborate on which specific impairments or disabilities would qualify a person to be in group 3 when asked.
Astrid Koornneef, Covid-19 operation vaccinations group manager, said they thank everyone who reported that they may have received the text in error, and apologise for any confusion it has caused.
There are a variety of reasons which mean some people may have been mistakenly captured by the text messages including instances of outdated patient information, Koornneef said.
GP Dr Bryan Betty said the patient management systems used to code and classify health conditions is complex.
The notifications, which came while the countrys vaccine supply is set to plummet to almost zero next week, stated recipients would receive their invitation in the fortnight.
To date, just 5 per cent of group 3 is fully vaccinated.
Medical director for the College of General Practitioners, and Wellington-based GP Dr Bryan Betty said the only way to get information of who is in group 3 is to take lists off practice management systems.
Long-term medical conditions are coded by GPs in a complex classification system, called read codes.
For the most part, the read codes picked up will be for current, relevant conditions. However, some will relate to conditions experienced in childhood, or surgery a person had when they were younger, Betty said.
For example, if you had childhood asthma but do not have asthma as an adult, you could still be captured as being asthmatic, he said.
If people believed they were in group 3 but had not received a notification, Betty advised they contact their GP.
I would rather see people included than excluded, he said.
People in group 3 can expect an invitation to book their vaccine by late July.