What you need to know about scheduling your COVID-19 vaccination appointment in Henrico

You’ve pre-registered for the COVID-19 vaccine. You’re eligible to receive it, and now you’re just waiting to be contacted, hoping this might be the day.

But what should you expect? Will you get a call or an email? How long do you have to respond? When will you be scheduled?

Here’s a look at the pre-registration process as of March 8 and what happens when your name is selected for the chance to be vaccinated.

(Please note that this applies specifically to the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts at this point in time and could change in the future; other local health districts statewide may or may not operate in similar ways. This list will be updated as needed.)

How can I make sure that my name or the name of a family members is on the pre-registration list?
Visit https://vax.preregister.virginia.gov/#/search and submit the name, email and/or phone number you want to check, and the system will tell you whether you or your family member is pre-registered. It will not provide you with an approximate timeframe during which you can expect to be vaccinated, however.

What if my name, or the name I’m searching for, doesn’t appear to be on the list?
You or the person in question may pre-register here: https://vax.preregister.virginia.gov/#/

How will I be contacted when I become eligible to receive a vaccine?
If you provided an email address when you pre-registered initially, you’ll most likely receive an email from the RHHD. (If you check your name on the state’s pre-registration list using your email address, you’ll know whether you did so. Another way to know: You should now be receiving weekly email updates from the Virginia Department of Health, indicating that you are on the list.)

The email will include a link you may use to select your own appointment time from a list of those available. If you don’t respond to the email within a certain period of time that day, you will receive one call from the RHHD in an attempt to schedule you by phone. Officials will not not leave a message and will not provide a call-back number.

The email link will not expire, but available slots will fill quickly, so check your email frequently to secure the time slot that works best for you.

If you didn’t provide an email address, then RHHD officials will call you by phone twice in a single day. They will not leave a message and will not provide a call-back number, however, so you should answer the phone when called.

How soon before a vaccination event will I be contacted?
RHHD officials typically will contact you about 7 days before an event with open time slots, but they also may contact you just before a scheduled event if openings remain or if cancellations occur.

What time of day should I expect a phone call?
RHHD officials typically make calls during business hours (between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.) Monday through Friday. But on rare occasions, officials may make evening and weekend calls to make sure their planned events are full.

How can I tell that the email is legitimately from the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts?
RHHD officials will email only once – typically from the Centers for Disease Control’s VAMS system, using an email address that will end in “@envelope.mail.vams.cdc.gov.” Depending upon your individual circumstances, you also may receive an email from an RHHD staff member with additional instructions. That email address will end in “@vdh.virginia.gov.”

How can I tell that the phone call is legitimately from the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts?
There’s not an easy way to do so. Calls are made from a variety of numbers, RHHD spokesperson Cat Long said, and some of the numbers are not from Virginia area codes. Some people have reported that the calls show up as spam on some cell phones. Officials advise that you answer your phone when you receive a call from a number you don’t recognize.

How can I tell if an email or phone call is a scam?
Health district officials will not ask for any form of payment, your social security number, or your insurance ID. If you receive an email or call requesting any of these things in order to schedule you for the vaccine, it is a scam.

The RHHD will ask you only for your date or birth and home address.

What happens if I miss both phone calls and/or receive the email too late to find any available vaccination time slots?
You will be removed from the list for that day only but will not lose your place in line. You will be contacted again soon for another planned vaccination event.

I think I received a registration call but the caller didn’t leave a message. Why not? I tried calling the number back but no one answered. Why not?
RHHD officials are attempting to schedule hundreds or thousands of people for vaccinations within a short timeframe, and as a result don’t have the resources or time to leave messages or respond to call-backs, according Long. That’s why they don’t leave messages or accept call-backs.

Will I have an option to select from multiple dates/times or just one?
Your options may vary. If you are being contacted for a closed event (one that is specific for seniors, teachers or another group), that will be the only event available to you. If you are being contacted for one of the RHHD’s ongoing events, you will receive a VAMS registration link through which you can find and select an open appointment at one of several events.

How can I cancel a scheduled appointment if a conflict arises?If you have scheduled your appointment through the vaccine administration management system (VAMS), simply log into VAMS using your personal login information and cancel the appointment. You then will be able to reschedule in any vaccination clinics that are open to your specific eligibility criteria, depending upon which phase of vaccination you are eligible for. You will remain in the appropriate queue for your first or second doses. If I am pre-registered on the state’s list, can I still pre-register or register with pharmacies that are now offering vaccinations?Yes, but it may not be necessary in all cases. Most pharmacies now offering the vaccine locally – Walgreens, Walmart, Kroger and Food Lion – will be working with the state to pull names from the state’s list.

But CVS is unable to do so, so you will need to register directly at https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine?icid=cvs-home-hero1-banner-1-coronavirus-vaccine in order to be placed on the CVS list. Check the websites of the other partners to learn more about their processes.

As of Feb. 26, partner pharmacies in Virginia are only offering the vaccine to seniors 65 and older. More groups of people in Phase 1B are expected to become eligible to receive vaccinations this month, and all of Phase 1B could be completed by early or mid-April.

Is there any place I can walk in and be vaccinated without an appointment?
Not officially. There have been reports in other states of some people receiving leftover doses by visiting pharmacies at the end of the day to see if any extras are available, but that is not advised.