BUFFALO, N.Y. — Frustration over New York State's stumbling rollout effort for the COVID-19 vaccine appeared to boil over in the form of a social media post that's caused some embarrassment for the Buffalo Police Department.
According to a source, police brass had to spend part of Thursday smoothing the ruffled feathers of county officials after a tweet sent out Wednesday on @BPDAlerts, the official Twitter account of the Buffalo Police.
The since deleted tweet was in departure from what the account is normally used for, which is to report information on crimes and to solicit the public’s help in solving them.
It read: "What a failure the leadership of Erie County has turned out to be. That's why the state opened up their own site at UB. They knew the county couldn't get it done."
Boiling frustration
There certainly has been no shortage of frustration from people trying to arrange for a vaccination. Many have found it difficult to make an appointment, or to find a clinic that actually has vaccine to offer.
More recently, there have been examples of clinics where shots were scheduled to take place being abruptly cancelled due to problems with the New York State's vaccine rollout.
The tweet in question was sent in response to another posted by WBEN Radio, when it reported that Erie County would have to cancel more than 4,000 previously scheduled vaccinations at its clinic through the middle of next week, due to a lack of supply from the state.
The county's clinics are largely focused on vaccinating emergency response personnel, including police.
Unauthorized tweet
A Buffalo Police spokesperson referred to the posting as an "unauthorized tweet," saying it does not reflect the opinion of the department.
As to how this happened, according to a source, the department’s Twitter account was compromised over the summer. The password was changed.
But they also confirmed the new password was given out mistakenly to "several" department personnel.
A police spokesperson did not say if they've determined who posted the tweet, nor if it was sent by someone from within the department, nor what kind of disciplinary action they might face if it turns out that it was.
We were told, however, that the password has been changed again and that the department will likely further restrict who has access to it.