COVID Vaccine and Testing Update
COVID Vaccine and Testing Update
Dear Patients:
Happy New Year! We want to give you several important updates.
As the Covid 19 pandemic is worsening, our office is offering drive-by rapid Covid testing (Abbott ID NOW). The results are ready in 30 minutes. If you are exposed to Covid 19 or have symptoms consistent with Covid 19 please contact the office. A crucial variable in the accuracy of the results is the precise timing of the Covid testing; to maximize the accuracy of the test, you may be asked to schedule a TeleVisit with your doctor to discuss your specific situation before scheduling your testing. There are certain situations in which PCR testing done at alternate locations is preferable to the rapid test in our office. This may require medical consultation with your doctor.
All of your doctors have received their first Covid 19 vaccine. Aside from sore arms and mild headache we are doing well and very happy to lead the way!
We have received a lot of calls, emails and portal messages about the vaccine. We have applied to DC Health to be Covid vaccine providers. We don’t know when or if we will be able to provide the vaccine in our office. It also remains unclear if we will be allowed to vaccinate non-DC residents. We promise to keep you updated through postings here on our website under News and Information.
Monday January 4th DC Health announced a preliminary schedule regarding vaccine availability. DC Health plans to begin offering the vaccine to all residents over 65 the week of January 11. The week of January 25: specific categories of essential workers. The week of February 1: DC residents with chronic medical conditions and other essential workers.
The portal to make an appointment is vaccinate.dc.gov. You can go to vaccinate.dc.gov and complete a form expressing interest in receiving updates. Right now, the portal is only for health care workers to sign up. From our personal experience, the portal is easy to navigate. Once you enter basic personal data you will be able to choose the pharmacy. You may find that there is better availability at a pharmacy farther from your home. If you successfully sign up you will get a confirmation email with a QR code. You should print out the email and take it to your appointment.
We strongly encourage our patients to receive the vaccine. We welcome the opportunity to offer the vaccine in our office, but for now we recommend patients who live in DC plan to sign up via the DC Health link. Unfortunately, at this time we do not have any specific information from Maryland and Virginia regarding their plans to vaccinate residents.
Follow us on our brand new Twitter account @WashingtonDocs. If we have breaking news we will post it on Twitter as well as our website.
Best Wishes for a healthy 2021!
Drs. Myers, Fuisz, Enelow, and Mills
