Riverside issues COVID update

Riverside’s dedication to continuing the fight against COVID-19 in our communities has never wavered. We are completing Phase 1a vaccinations and are proud of our vaccine clinic teams’ excellent work and success across Riverside Health System. To date, we are excited to share that we have distributed more than 9,000 vaccines to nurses, doctors and other healthcare workers both within and outside of our health system including hundreds of paramedics and EMTs. We have distributed roughly 75% of the doses provided to us by the state, which is more than double the national average. 

Riverside is excited to move forward with our vaccination efforts. Our organization has entered into Phase 1b starting with scheduling vaccination appointments for Riverside patients, age 75 years of age and older, who have a Riverside primary care physician. We know that many members of the public including those 65 years of age to 74 years of age as well as other essential workers have many questions as to when they will have access to the vaccine. We are working closely with other regional health systems and the Virginia Department of Health to develop detailed plans for these groups once adequate supplies of vaccines become available. 

While eager to vaccinate all Riverside Primary Care patients, the supply on hand today is very limited. As additional doses become available to us, we will work to administer them as quickly as possible as allowed by the Virginia Department of Health and the federal government.

We will be sending out a survey via text and email soon to our primary care patients asking them to identify their age and if they plan to get the vaccine. This will help us determine what phase you fall in and in our planning process. To find out which phase you’re eligible for, check out the Virginia Department of Health’s eligibility tool: https://vdh.jebbit.com/amkwk6m1?L=Owned+Web&JC=Vaccine.

We have developed extensive plans and have set a goal to vaccinate 5,000 people per week if vaccine supply proves adequate, and our top priority is to maximize the speed of vaccination. The state will decide how many doses we receive and when our Riverside Medical Group locations receive the vaccine, but our teams have prepared and are ready to immediately move forward when the time comes so we can make the vaccine available to patients as quickly as possible. 

As the vaccine becomes available to a patient’s priority group, we will do our best to notify them of that availability and share immediate next steps for scheduling the vaccination appointment via Riverside MyChart. If you haven’t already, we encourage you to sign up for Riverside MyChart to receive vaccine notifications and information. To learn more about Riverside MyChart, visit riversideonline.com/mychart. If you do not have a Riverside MyChart account, once you become eligible based on government guidelines, we will send you a notification via text or email with specific information on scheduling your vaccination appointment. 

Guidance is continually being updated. As these updates are available, we are committed to sharing them with the community to make sure everyone has access to the most current information.

Our goal is to help patients make the best decisions for their health. We understand there is an overwhelming amount of information available about the vaccines and we will continue to inform the community of what’s happening at the local level, and how exactly that information will impact their lives. 

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