NOTICE: We will continue to provide updated COVID-19 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..
COVID-19 Vaccines
As regulatory issues currently hinder private medical practices from readily providing COVID-19 vaccines, Foxhall Internists encourages its eligible patients to visit vaccine.gov or call 800-232-0233 to find pharmacies and other locations that offer COVID-19 vaccines.
- DC residents can visit this website or call (855) 363-0333.
- Virginia residents can 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 can visit this website. Additional information for residents of Montgomery County is available here.
COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters
The FDA has approved COVID-19 vaccine boosters for all adults, and the CDC encouraging everyone age 18 and older be up-to-date on booster shots. The CDC’s guidelines for COVID-19 vaccine boosters is available here.
COVID-19 Testing
- 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).
- “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.
- 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).
COVID-19 Guidances
COVID-19 infection rates vary across the United States; 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:
National updates regarding COVID-19 are available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Foxhall Internists COVID-19 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.
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.
