3301 New Mexico Avenue, NW Suite 348 Washington, DC 20016 (202) 362-4467 Physicians Services Patient Resources News & Alerts Contact Us Careers COVID-19 HomeCOVID-19 COVID-19 Vaccines Foxhall Internists has paused its COVID-19 vaccinations at this time. If you are in need of a COVID-19 vaccination, we encourage you to review the following information: DC residents should visiting this website or call (855) 363-0333. Virginia residents should visit this website. An additional website is available for residents of Arlington County here. Fairfax County residents may call their health department’s vaccine hotline at (703) 324-7404. Maryland residents should visit this website. Additional information for residents of Montgomery County is available here. Select CVS and Walgreens locations in the DC metro area are administering the COVID-19 vaccine. You can find detailed information at cvs.com and walgreens.com. We will continue to post updates on this page as we receive them. COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters The FDA has approved COVID-19 vaccine boosters for all adults, and the CDC is now encouraging everyone age 18 and older get a booster shot. For individuals who received a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, it is strongly recommended that they get a booster shot at 6 months or more after their initial series: For individuals who got the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, booster shots are also recommended for those who are 18 and older and who were vaccinated two or more months ago. Eligible individuals may choose which vaccine they receive as a booster dose. Some people may have a preference for the vaccine type that they originally received, and others may prefer to get a different booster. The CDC’s recommendations now allow for this type of mix and match dosing for booster shots. Please note that many experts are advising Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients to receive either a Pfizer or Moderna booster vaccine, as this results in a more effective immune response than a second dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Available data right now show that all three of the COVID-19 vaccines approved or authorized in the United States continue to be highly effective in reducing the risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death, even due to infections by the widely circulating Delta variant. Vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself, reduce the spread of the virus, and help prevent new variants from emerging. If you are eligible based on the above criteria, we encourage you to use all available resources to get a booster or a third dose. Retail pharmacies and local and state vaccination sites offer booster appointments. Due to multiple logistical issues, and since currently the COVID-19 vaccine is easily available at pharmacies and other vaccination sites, we will not be resuming our COVID-19 vaccination program at this time. We will continue to provide updates as they become available. If you have any questions or concerns regarding a booster shot, please contact your physician. Special Hospital COVID-19 Vaccine Notices >>>Sibley Hospital/Johns Hopkins Medicine Please visit the Sibley website for details. >>>Medstar Health Medstar Health is allowing patients to register to receive the vaccine here. Only individuals who are currently patients in the Medstar system are eligible to register on this site at this time. >>>The University of Maryland Medical System Maryland residents may request an invitation to receive a vaccination appointment here. Eligibility criteria are listed on their site. >>>Howard University Hospital Howard University Hospital is currently offering the vaccine to DC residents who meet the eligibility criteria determined by the DC DOH. Currently they do not appear to be limiting access to appointments to their existing patients. Further information on registration is available here. >>>Holy Cross Health Holy Cross Health is accepting limited vaccination appointments on a rolling basis here. Resources Rising COVID-19 infection rates across much of the United States are resulting in frequent changes to health guidances and requirements. As such, it is important for your health and the health of those around you to stay updated on the changes in the places where you live, work, and visit: Washington, DC Virginia Maryland National updates regarding COVID-19 are available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Office Policies & Procedures At Foxhall Internists we continue to offer video, phone, and email consultations with our patients when appropriate during the coronavirus outbreak. Each of our doctors has their own policy on how they are managing this. If you require assistance with any acute or chronic medical issue, please start by contacting your primary doctor’s assistant, and they will then advise you on what should be done next.We remain open to see patients who need an in-person evaluation and/or lab testing, at the discretion of their doctors. We have taken steps to reduce the chance of COVID-19 transmission in our office, and we have stopped seeing patients with respiratory infection symptoms since about the time the first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in our area. We ask that if you have any symptoms which are potentially due to a COVID-19 infection, you inform your doctor’s assistant before you come in. A complete list of these symptoms is available on the CDC website here: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html. All patients are expected to wear a mask or other protective face covering at all times during their time in the office. In the interest of limiting the number of people in our office, we kindly ask that you do not have anyone accompany you to your appointment, unless their assistance is required. During the pandemic we also are only offering lab and vaccination services on a scheduled basis, so that we can minimize the number of patients in our waiting areas at any time. We will continue to be here to help manage your medical care, and we appreciate your support as we try to maintain as safe an office environment as possible. COVID-19 Testing At Foxhall Internists, we now have multiple test options for SARS CoV2/COVID-19. Testing is only available to our existing patients by appointment. Here is a brief overview of our current options, and we anticipate our testing system will continue to evolve to best meet your need. How are the tests collected? Nasal swabs in our parking garage: For anyone with active viral symptoms or recent high-risk contact, we ask that people present for testing in the Foxhall Square garage (second floor in the marked area). We offer testing 5 days a week on Monday through Friday. The hours of testing vary by day, and you will need to contact your doctor’s secretary to schedule a test appointment. Testing is only available to our existing patients by appointment. Nasal swabs in your doctor’s office: For those without symptoms and without recent high-risk contacts, your physician can collect a sample in the office as part of an office visit. These tests are typically collected because of: administrative purposes (travel, etc.); confirmation of viral status prior to visiting a high-risk individual; or just general curiosity. Blood work: We cannot test for active virus with blood work. However, we CAN test for antibodies (see below). As always, however, we ask that anyone with active symptoms or recent contact with someone who is sick should not go to the Foxhall Internists lab without explicit prior approval from your physician (to ensure that we do not believe that you might have COVID-19, for which we should test you in the garage). What are the tests? Nasal Swab: “Multiplex” Respiratory Viral PCR testing (includes SARS CoV2/COVID-19, Influenza A/B, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)): We are able to run this PCR test in our lab with a turn around of just a few hours. Results are available the next business morning for samples collected during the afternoon garage testing slots, and same day results may be available if specimens are collected by the early afternoon. SARS-CoV2-only PCR testing: We have a relationship with an outside lab that can perform PCR testing with 24 hour turn around (tests collected in the afternoon generally have results by 5 PM the next business day). This is slower than our in-house lab, but available at a slightly lower cost (and without tests for Influenza or RSV). SARS-CoV2 antigen testing: This test is not as sensitive as the PCR tests (i.e. it can miss small amounts of virus), but it still has utility since a positive test correlates more strongly with contagiousness. This test costs less than the others and the turn around is usually about 30-60 minutes. There are a few examples of when this test may be particularly useful: a) you recently tested positive for COVID-19 but are asymptomatic and you are curious as to how contagious you might be; b) you have recovered from COVID-19 and are curious if you are still contagious (the CDC guidelines for isolation do not mandate testing since PCR tests may continue to be positive long after one is no longer contagious, but a positive antigen test could lead to some concern about ongoing contagiousness); and c) you would like to do frequent COVID-19 testing (e.g. several times a week) and since this is lower cost, it might be a more cost-effective solution. Blood: SARS-CoV2 antibody testing. We continue to offer blood testing for antibodies to SARS-CoV2. We are now able to test for antibodies to the nucleocapsid of SARS-CoV2 (which develops only from natural infection) and, separately, for antibodies to the spike protein (which can develop from natural infection OR vaccination). Please note, we are required by the DC Health Department to submit all of the information on this form with all COVID-19 tests we collect. ** We will continue to provide updated information as the situation evolves. As always, if you are not feeling well, and especially if you have recurring fevers or trouble breathing, please call your doctor, and call 911 in case of an emergency. Hours Monday – Friday 8:00 am – 4:30 pm Immunizations Hours: 9:00 am – 12 noon and 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm Contact [Phone] 202.362.4467 [Fax] 202.362.2303 [If no answer call] 301.446.2541 Location 3301 New Mexico Avenue, NW Suite 348 Washington, DC 20016 Sign Up Now Please register for our newsletter and updates. Copyright © 2011-2020 Foxhall Internists, PC. All Rights Reserved.