One Medical's Approach to Vaccinating Our Communities

Since the first signs of coronavirus in the U.S., One Medical has been dedicated to providing quality COVID-19 care to all, working steadfastly to open up access where it is needed.

We’ve made bold decisions in times of uncertainty to prioritize saving lives. In March of 2020, we quickly opened up COVID-19 testing sites and respiratory care centers in every community where we had offices. In April, we were among the first to begin offering COVID-19 testing to the general population. And, in NYC, we were among the first to provide outpatient testing for underserved communities in partnership with the local government.

Now that we’ve reached the critical phase of distributing the COVID-19 vaccine, the entire One Medical team is working overtime to offer our labor, our locations, our operational expertise and our technology to vaccinate as many eligible people as possible, as quickly and equitably as possible. This is an unprecedented challenge for our nation and world. As we and other healthcare providers are navigating variations in unpredictable interruptions in vaccine availability, eligibility guidance from one county to the next, and differing perspectives on the best approach to distribution, One Medical’s perspective is clear: we are committed to vaccinating high-priority populations in accordance with local guidance, while also not letting any precious vaccinations go to waste.

We are committed to:

• Following local eligibility guidance to vaccinate high-priority populations first. In order to do this, we’ve added several steps to validate eligibility before a patient books a vaccination slot — patients are directed to review eligibility criteria, receive a questionnaire and attestation, and asked to bring evidence of eligibility to their vaccine appointment. We have and will continue to turn away patients who abuse our trust by misrepresenting their eligibility when booking their appointment or by providing falsified eligibility criteria.
• Utilizing all valuable vaccines. For example, of all vaccines administered to date by One Medical in San Francisco, less than one percent were administered to people outside of the current eligible groups in order to prevent spoilage.
• Removing financial barriers between people and COVID-19 vaccinations. As we did with testing, we’ve opened up access to the One Medical technology platform for patients, free of membership fees, to provide equitable access to vaccine appointments. This allows eligible patients to quickly and efficiently get vaccinated by entering their health information, booking an appointment, confirming eligibility, and receiving notifications to schedule their second dose through the One Medical app.

One Medical has registered as a vaccine provider across more than 30 different jurisdictions, set up vaccination sites and equipment, including cold storage, and put in place distribution strategies, working in partnership with local departments of health (DPH) to efficiently vaccinate the highest-priority populations when we are allocated the vaccine inventory in order to do so. We’ve made great strides in vaccinating tens of thousands of vulnerable and eligible community members across several states, the majority from DPH referrals. For example, we’ve worked with the San Francisco Department of Public Health to vaccinate In-Home Support Services personnel; with DC Health to vaccinate educators; and with the City of New York to vaccinate unhoused persons living in shelters.

We’re optimistic that by summer, every person in the country who wants a vaccine will have had the opportunity to get one. We thank you for your patience as we march toward this milestone. We’re in this together.