Maine veterans will hear about COVID-19 vaccines through VEText

AUGUSTA — Care teams are scheduling COVID-19 vaccinations for eligible enrolled veterans via VEText.
VA’s VEText program allows veterans to quickly confirm or cancel scheduled appointments and sends reminders for their next visit via text message. Veterans may also receive text message updates about availability and scheduling for COVID-19 vaccines.
All text messages will tell eligible veterans their facility is offering the vaccine and will come from the short phone number 53079.
* VA care teams will invite eligible veterans to make a vaccine appointment directly by text message. * VA care teams will also continue to reach out to eligible Veterans to schedule vaccinations by phone.
Every enrolled veteran with a cellphone number listed in their health record is automatically enrolled to receive text messages. Veterans who receive care at VA should make sure their cellphone number is up to date in their VA.gov profile. This is the number a VA health facility will use to contact a veteran by text. Veterans can update phone numbers online at www.va.gov/profile. [1]
The VEText system also has an easy to use opt-out process for veterans who do not want to use the text messaging reminders. Simply reply to the text message with “STOP.” Additionally, all appointment reminder messages contain instructions on how to end the message delivery. If you want to restart the text message appointment reminders, simply text “START” to a previous reminder message and service will resume.
There is no need to contact VA Maine directly. As more vaccines become available for more groups of veterans, VA care teams will reach out to eligible veterans to schedule vaccinations. Learn more about VEText at www.va.gov/HEALTH/VEText_FAQs.asp].