Since Philadelphia has entered Phase 1b of priority COVID-19 vaccine distribution, hospitals in major health networks, such as Penn Medicine, Temple Health and Einstein, have begun vaccinating high-risk patients.

Some people considered high-risk due to their age (75+) or those with such chronic medical conditions as cancer, diabetes, kidney disease and organ transplant patients, may have already received a call from their doctor about scheduling a COVID vaccine appointment.

But it may take many weeks before all people in this priority group are vaccinated. There are tens of thousands of high-risk patients in each large health network and the vaccine supply has been limited so far (although it is expected to increase in the coming weeks). For example, Temple Health currently receives about 1,000 doses a week and Penn Medicine gets between 1,500 and 2,000 doses a week, according to WHYY. 

High risk patients in large health care systems who haven’t been contacted about an appointment are advised not to call their health care provider about the vaccine, but to wait until they are contacted. It may also be helpful to sign up for your healthcare system’s online portal and to quickly respond to messages. Usually, primary care doctors will identify patients who are most at risk and will call/message them about a COVID vaccine appointment.

The Inquirer has more details on how and when Philly area’s large healthcare networks are planning to vaccinate their patients against COVID.