Forest Hills Connection | News and Life in Our DC Neighborhood

Covering Forest Hills, Van Ness, North Cleveland Park and Wakefield

Where to walk to get a walk-up, no appointment Covid-19 vaccination

UPDATE #1: We’ve added the location of the UDC vaccination site – 4225 Connecticut Avenue.

UPDATE #2: DC Health is opening the walk-up vaccination sites to those who received their first doses out of state. The UDC site has Moderna vaccines.

UPDATE #2: Pill Plus Pharmacy will now take walk-up vaccine seekers Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays starting Monday, May 3rd. The pharmacy is closed May 1st.

A few weeks ago, every DC mayor and DC Health communication about Covid-19 vaccine availability included a variation on this message: “DC NEEDS MORE VACCINE.”

Times have changed.

DC’s pre-registration portal went dark Wednesday, April 28th, as everyone who had signed up was offered an appointment. Pharmacies and hospitals that were limited to vaccinating teachers and seniors have opened up appointments to all adults.

And now, walk-in availabilities are proliferating.

Mayor Bowser announced on Monday that DC will have eleven high capacity walk-up vaccination sites as of Saturday, May 1st. And one of those sites will be at UDC.

The location of the UDC walk-up Covid-19 vaccination site is the former Walgreens at 4225 Connecticut Avenue. As noted above in Council member Mary Cheh’s tweet, the clinic is open Saturday, May 1st from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. And the no-appointment vaccinations will be available from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 5th, 6th, 12th, 14th, 19th and 20th.

Across Connecticut Avenue from the UDC student center, Pill Plus Pharmacy (4215 Connecticut, 202-244-7979, 703-786-8402) will also welcome walk-in vaccine seekers starting May 3rd. Chief pharmacist and owner Raymonda Kondos told a Forest Hills Connection reader that the pharmacy has been administering the Moderna vaccine by appointment to those who need their first dose, or only their second dose. She is also reaching out to area embassies after the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq inquired about vaccinating its staff. Pill Plus received 100 Moderna doses on Wednesday, and is administering the vaccines Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Pill Plus is also providing same-day Covid-19 PCR tests.

If anyone wishes to get a no appointment shot from a hospital instead, Medstar announced it will be taking walk-ins for vaccinations at its two DC hospitals beginning May 3rd.

There’s no indication the CVS pharmacies with vaccines are ready to offer walk-up availability. The CVS at 4309 Connecticut Avenue has several appointments available on May 1st. This location is offering the Pfizer vaccine, and appointments can be scheduled through the CVS.com vaccination portal.

Please note that for those getting the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the on-demand vaccinations are for the first shot only.** You’ll need an appointment for your second shot. While teens ages 16 and 17 can get the Pfizer vaccine, they are not eligible for the walk-up sites. Their appointments are being scheduled through Children’s National. And the cost is the same everywhere. The shots are free.

** Update:

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Comments

  2. The high-capacity, walk-in, no-appointment-necessary vaccination site at the former Walgreen’s (4225 Connecticut Ave. NW) had 18 (eighteen) customers this morning in the half hour from 10:22 am to 10:52 am. There was no line at any time during that half hour.

    That site has two signs at the front door. On the left, a plain white sign with black text says “Enter —>” with an arrow pointing to the right. On the right, a green signboard says “Get Your Free Covid-19 Vaccine HERE.”

    The Pill Plus Pharmacy at 4215 Connecticut Ave. NW, just down the block from the Walgreen’s, has a new large banner above the glass front and above the door, with red text on white background saying “Walk-In” “COVID-19 VACCINE” “Welcome” from left to right.

  3. In case anyone is wondering, the CVS by the Van Ness metro is still not accepting walk-ins, despite the recent announcement that CVS’s in DC are all taking walk-ins. A CVS employee told me this morning to call the 1-800 number if appointments were not available though the website (they weren’t), but the person on the phone could not give me a same-day appointment either.

  4. Today, May 20, was the last day this month that Walgreen’s was scheduled to host the walk-up, no-appointment, vaccination clinic. I observed the front door of the Walgreen’s (4225 Connecticut) for the last 20 minutes of today’s session, which ended at 2 pm. Only four (4) customers entered or left the Walgreen’s in those 20 minutes.

    Before the UDC uniformed guards closed the front door at 2 pm, I went inside the Walgreen’s and asked one of the guards if the vaccination clinic would return in June. One guard told me that, yes, the Walgreen’s will host the free, walk-in vaccinations again on June 2 and 3.

    I have not been able to find a DC Health notice confirming that the Walgreen’s will host another clinic in early June. DC Health has created a new web page showing how long a customer might need to wait to get a shot at each of the free, walk-in vaccination sites. Perhaps that new page will start next week showing hours and waiting times for the Walgreen’s location for any sessions coming up in June. (At this minute, after 7 pm, the page shows all locations are closed.)

    Here is the new “waiting times” page posted by DC Health:

    https://coronavirus.dc.gov/dontwait

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