Private medical offices urging patience during coronavirus vaccine rollout

ARLINGTON, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - FOX 5 has learned some medical offices in the DC region are telling patients not to call them about the coronavirus vaccine.

Staff say they’re being flooded with calls from patients wanting to get the COVID-19 vaccine or learn more about it.

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An email obtained by FOX 5 was sharp-worded telling patients, "don’t call us, we’ll call you" when there’s more information on COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

While many hospitals have received doses of the coronavirus vaccination, many other medical offices have not.

The first COVID-19 vaccinations are going to health care workers and nursing homes and it could be several weeks, if not months, before the coronavirus vaccination is available to the general public.

In the email, reportedly from Maryland-based Family Healthcare, patients are told at this time, they have not received any information about distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine nor do they expect their office to receive the vaccine in the near future.

The notice reportedly goes on to request patients not call the office with questions about the vaccine saying staff cannot handle all of the calls coming in. They also say it’s unknown when the vaccine will be available to people with underlying conditions.

The apparent email comes amid interest in how, when, and where you can receive the coronavirus vaccine if you are not a healthcare worker or at a nursing home.

Private medical offices are urging patience.

In the email reportedly from Family Healthcare, they say they don’t even know if they will get the vaccine to administer to patients. Plus, they apparently say they’re not keeping a list of patients interested in getting the vaccine.

It’s likely medical offices and doctors will send out notice when the vaccine becomes available to all.