Provided by Sentara Health
Sentara Healthcare is committed to transparency about their role in vaccinating communities against COVID-19. Sentara’s teams of healthcare heroes have been working diligently to support communities in the most efficient way. Sentara is happy to see a large amount of interest in the COVID-19 vaccines, and is proud to have administered more than 57,000 doses of the vaccine so far.
The Commonwealth of Virginia has begun to prioritize vaccine distribution to local health departments rather than hospitals and health systems. In Virginia, Sentara is notified weekly whether additional vaccines will be received that week for first dose appointments and, if so, how many doses to expect. Sentara will only be able to offer first dose appointments on a week-by-week basis at this time for patients and the broader community.
Here is what the new distribution model means for Sentara:
- Moving forward, Sentara and other health systems will be very limited in the ability to schedule new first dose vaccine appointments, and will be doing so on a week-by-week basis in all the regions.
- Currently scheduled first dose appointments ae evaluated week by week with regard to the vaccine shipments received from local departments of health. Sentara does everything possible to keep our scheduled appointments.
- If an already-scheduled first does appointment needs to be postponed, patients will be contacted directly with further instructions by email or by phone. Affected patients would receive priority for future appointments through Sentara and be notified to reschedule once more supply becomes available.
- Anyone who has received their first dose at a Sentara clinic will still receive their second dose as scheduled.
Statement from Sentara: “We understand and share your frustration with vaccine availability. We are working with state and local health departments to support ongoing COVID-19 vaccination efforts. We also encourage all patients to sign-up through their local health department if they have not already done so. We encourage everyone, including Sentara patients, to explore every available avenue to receive a vaccine and take the first available opportunity. These opportunities could include non-Sentara clinics hosted by local health departments, neighborhood pharmacies, or other healthcare organizations. It is unlikely that Sentara will receive enough vaccines to offer appointments to all of our patients at this time.”
- Virginia local health districts found here.
- CVS Pharmacy COVID-19 Vaccine Information found here (VA residents).
If Sentara is able to host future community vaccine clinics, local health departments will share their lists of eligible pre-registered individuals with us.
Any Sentara patient who receives a vaccine at a non-Sentara clinic is encouraged to inform their primary care team by sending a message through their Sentara MyChart account. This is an important step in ensuring care teams have a complete and accurate record of a patient’s health and immunization history.
This recent development may cause additional frustration or confusion. To help clarify information and ensure that anyone interested in receiving a vaccine has the opportunity to access one as soon as possible, answers to frequently asked questions are provided at sentara.com/vaccine.
