COVID-19 Facts and Resources

Before your appointment

If you have COVID-like symptoms or have tested positive for COVID in the last 20 days, please call your Dana-Farber doctor's office before your appointment.

We want to know if you have any cold, flu, or COVID-like symptoms, including:

• Fever
• Sore throat
• Cough
• Runny nose/nasal congestion
• Muscle aches
• Loss of smell or taste
• Shortness of breath

Contact us if you're unsure or have any questions. You can call 617-632-3000 or find your doctor's number in our online directory.

Day of your appointment

Everyone who comes to Dana-Farber is screened for COVID-19 symptoms. Before you arrive, use our online prescreening app. You'll receive a digital pass to show when you enter.

If you don't have a smartphone or can't access the app, we'll help you complete the screening process when you arrive.

Last updated November 21, 2022

Patient Companions

All Dana-Farber patients can bring up to two healthy adult companions (age 18 or older) to an outpatient appointment at Dana-Farber.

Please do not bring children or young teens as companions to your Dana-Farber appointment. Visitors age 17 and younger, including siblings, are not permitted at this time. We thank you for your understanding.

All companions and patients need to use our prescreen app. On the day of an appointment, go to prescreen.massgeneralbrigham.org on your smartphone and answer the app's screening questions to get a digital pass we’ll ask to see when you enter Dana-Farber. If you do not have a smartphone or can’t access the app, we will help you complete the screening process when you arrive.

Face Masks

Everyone is required to wear a face mask throughout their visit, regardless of vaccination status. We'll give you a mask when you arrive. Make sure that it always covers your mouth and nose.

Physical Distancing

Please be mindful of others during your visit, and try to maintain safe physical distancing. If there is not enough space for needed physical distancing in a patient care area, a companion may be asked to wait in a designated area until the patient's appointment is complete.

Be Aware of Your Arrival Time

If you're visiting Dana-Farber in person, please do not arrive more than 20 minutes before your appointment. This helps reduce the number of people in the building and ensures safe physical distancing throughout the facility. If you arrive too early, we may need to direct you to a waiting area after you complete the screening process.

COVID-19 therapies are available for our adult patients at Dana-Farber’s Longwood Campus in limited quantities. These therapies can help your immune system fight COVID-19.

You may be eligible for these treatments if you are categorized as being at high risk for complications from COVID-19 infection. If you have questions, please call 617-632-6843.

• Paxlovid is an antiviral medication developed by Pfizer designed to treat mild-to-moderate COVID-19 disease in people who are at high risk for severe COVID-19. If you test positive for COVID-19, talk with your Dana-Farber care team about whether Paxlovid might be right for you.
• Dana-Farber may offer remdesivir to COVID-19-positive patients. This is an FDA-approved antiviral therapy administered by IV infusion. Please review the FDA’s patient/caregiver factsheet (PDF) to learn more.
• AstraZeneca’s Evusheld monoclonal antibody therapy is designed to help prevent COVID-19 in people with suppressed immune systems who may not get enough virus protection from vaccines and boosters. Recent studies show that Evusheld is not effective against newer COVID-19 variants, so you should not rely on it to prevent COVID-19 infection. You can still talk with your Dana-Farber doctor about whether you should get this therapy.

To learn more about COVID-19 therapies:

• CDC Guidance for Specific Patient Populations
• COVID-19 outpatient therapies (at Mass General Brigham hospitals)

• At Longwood (450 Brookline Ave., Boston): Please enter Dana-Farber's parking garage on Jimmy Fund Way and go to Level P1 to drop off or pick up a patient. You can also use valet parking on Level P1.
• At Chestnut Hill (300 Boylston St., Newton, MA): Please enter the Life Time Center parking garage and go to Level P3 to pick up or drop off a patient. You can also use valet parking on Level P3.

Thank you for your cooperation and help!

In order to limit the number of people at Dana-Farber, some of our programs and services have changed.

• The Friends' Place health boutique is open limited hours (Monday - Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) or by appointment. Please call 617-632-2211 if you need to schedule an appointment for a compression garment, wig fitting, breast prosthesis, bra fitting, or other service.
• Seating in the Lavine Family Dining Pavilion has been reconfigured for physical distancing.
• Many Dana-Farber volunteers have been asked to suspend activities and fewer are at the Institute.
  
• The Zakim Center's programs in yoga, mindfulness, and other topics are available online. You can review the center's Program Calendar to see online class offerings.
• The Blum Resource Center offers workshops and programs online. Check the Blum Resource Center page.
• One-to-One is a telephone support program that connects our trained volunteers with patients and caregivers who would like support from a peer. To request a mentor, patients and caregivers can fill out a referral form.
• Visit the Friends' Corner Gift Shop online.
• Dana-Farber's Young Adult Program (YAP) invites young adult patients (age 18-39) treated in adult oncology to join its online support group and Twitter chats. For more information about online programming, email yap@dfci.harvard.edu or call 617-632-6819.