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Low reported severity Media Coverage

Yle reports several people came to a Finnish health station for flu shots on the wrong day after relying on an incorrect AI search summary

Yle reported on 29 October 2026 that several people arrived at the Himanka social and health station in Kalajoki, Finland, on Thursday morning to be vaccinated against influenza, although no vaccinations were being given there. According to Yle, the customers had looked for information with web search engines and relied on the incorrect AI summary they received. Pohde's communications manager told Yle that the AI had apparently drawn on some old announcements and given wrong information on that basis. Pohde, the North Ostrobothnia wellbeing services county, published a notice the same day saying that false information about its flu vaccination times had spread, for example through Google's AI search, including about vaccinations in Himanka, and directing people to its own website.

AI system
Google AI search (reported)
Occurred
29 Oct 2026
Reported
29 October 2026
Event location
Finland
What the AI did
Communicated with the person
Reported harm
Other Material Harm
Whose AI use
Their own AI use
Setting
Health · Public services
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources
4 claims: 1 documented, 3 reported. 3 open questions
People reported harmed
Not reliably quantifiable from the sources

AI system as recorded: An AI-generated summary in web search results ('tekoälytiivistelmä') that the customers relied on; the Pohde wellbeing services county names Google's AI search as an example of where the false vaccination information spread, without saying which search engine each customer used

What Happened

What happened. According to Yle's report of 29 October 2026, several people came to the Himanka social and health station in Kalajoki on Thursday morning to be vaccinated against influenza, although vaccinations were not being organised there at the time. Yle reports that the customers had searched for information with web search engines and relied on an incorrect AI-generated summary.

The authority's explanation. Pohde's communications manager told Yle that the AI had apparently retrieved some old announcements and given wrong information on that basis, and said it was unfortunate if people were directed to the wrong places and times. The manager also said Pohde was trying to find out what could be done about it.

Public notice. Pohde published a notice at 11:00 on 29 October 2026 stating that false information about the timing of its influenza vaccinations had spread, for example through Google's AI search, and that the incorrect details concerned, among other things, vaccinations in Himanka. The notice tells people to check vaccination times on Pohde's own website.

Limits. Neither source quotes the AI summary, states the date or time it gave, names the search engine each customer used, or gives the number of people who came. The notice names Google's AI search as an example only. No response from Google is reported.

Reported harm

According to Yle, several people travelled to a health station for flu vaccination at a time when none was offered there, after relying on an incorrect AI search summary.

Outcome

Unknown

Pohde issued a public notice on 29 October 2026 warning that false vaccination information had spread through AI search and directing people to its website; its communications manager said it was trying to establish what could be done. No response from a search provider is reported.

What remains unknown

  • What the AI summary said, including the date or time it gave.
  • Which search engine or AI feature each customer used; Pohde names Google's AI search only as an example.
  • How many people came to the station and whether they were later vaccinated elsewhere.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. Yle reports that the customers searched for vaccination information with web search engines and relied on the incorrect AI summary they received, and quotes Pohde's communications manager that the AI apparently drew on old announcements and gave wrong information. Pohde's own notice says false information about its vaccination times spread, for example through Google's AI search, including about Himanka. The AI's actual text is not quoted.

4 claims: 1 documented, 3 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported Several people came to the Himanka social and health station on Thursday morning, 29 October 2026, to be vaccinated against influenza, although no vaccinations were being given there.

Causal attribution. Yle's own report of the visits; the number of people is not given.

  • yle.fi(opens in new tab) supports · Finnish
    Näin kävi Kalajoen Himangan sosiaali- ja terveysasemalla torstaiaamuna. ... Useita henkilöitä saapui Himangalle rokotettavaksi, vaikka rokotuksia ei siellä tällä hetkellä edes järjestetä.
Reported According to Yle, the customers had looked for information with web search engines and relied on an incorrect AI-generated summary.

Causal attribution. Attributed to Yle's report of the authority's account; the AI summary itself is not quoted.

  • yle.fi(opens in new tab) supports · Finnish
    Asiakkaat olivat hakeneet tietoa verkon hakukoneista ja tukeutuneet vastaukseksi saamansa virheelliseen tekoälytiivistelmään.
Reported Pohde's communications manager said the AI had apparently drawn on some old announcements and given wrong information on that basis.

Causal attribution. The authority's explanation, hedged ('apparently'); no technical analysis of the AI output is reported.

  • yle.fi(opens in new tab) supports · Finnish
    Tekoäly on nähtävästi hakenut joitakin vanhoja tiedotteita, ja sen perusteella antanut väärät tiedot, sanoo viestintäpäällikkö Outi Korhonen Pohteelta.
Documented Pohde stated in a notice on 29 October 2026 that false information about its influenza vaccination times had spread, for example through Google's AI search, and that the incorrect details concerned among other things vaccinations in Himanka.

Causal attribution. The notice establishes what Pohde stated; it names Google's AI search only as an example.

  • pohde.fi(opens in new tab) supports · Finnish
    Pohjois-Pohjanmaan hyvinvointialueen Pohteen influenssarokotusten ajankohdista on levinnyt väärää tietoa esimerkiksi Googlen tekoälyhaun kautta. Virheelliset tiedot koskevat muun muassa Himangalla järjestettäviä rokotuksia.

Sources

2 sources inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in Finnish and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-11-01; no human translator inspected the text. Yle (Finnish public broadcaster) report of 29 October 2026 quoting Pohde's communications manager. Applies to s1.

Read in Finnish and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-11-01; no human translator inspected the text. Pohde's own news notice, published 29 October 2026 at 11:00. Applies to s2.

Event countries: Finland. Affected-person countries: Finland. Court countries: Unknown.

Both sources place the visits at the Himanka social and health station in Kalajoki, in the North Ostrobothnia wellbeing services county, Finland. No court is involved.

Reviewed for publication 2026-11-01: Published on Yle's report that customers relied on an incorrect AI search summary and came for flu vaccination at a time none was offered, with the regional health authority's explanation and its own public notice about false AI search information. The AI's text and the engine used remain unknown.

People described

Several customers of the North Ostrobothnia wellbeing services county seeking influenza vaccination; their number and ages are not reported.

People reported harmed in this case

Not reliably quantifiable from the sources

Yle says 'several people' (useita henkilöitä) came to the station; no number is given, so no count is recorded and the numeric fields hold zero placeholders.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#vaccination#search-ai-summary#public-health-information#finland

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Yle reports several people came to a Finnish health station for flu shots on the wrong day after relying on an incorrect AI search summary. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-finland-himanka-health-station-flu-vaccination-wrong-day-ai-search-summary

BibTeX

@misc{2026_finland_himanka_health_station_flu_vaccination_wrong_day_ai_search_summary,
  title = {Yle reports several people came to a Finnish health station for flu shots on the wrong day after relying on an incorrect AI search summary},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-finland-himanka-health-station-flu-vaccination-wrong-day-ai-search-summary}
}

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