Prescreening and Mask Requirements

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COVID-19 Therapies and Vaccines

COVID-19 therapies can help your immune system fight a COVID-19 infection, while vaccines help prevent infection. If you are not already fully vaccinated, we strongly encourage you to get the COVID-19 vaccine to protect yourself and your loved ones.

Learn more about COVID-19 therapies and vaccines

Your health and safety are our top priorities. Here is the latest information you need to know before visiting any of our locations.

Before Your Appointment

If you have a respiratory illness or any COVID-like symptoms, 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

Face Masks

Wearing a face mask at Dana-Farber is currently optional if you do not have cold or flu symptoms and you have not had a recent COVID-19 exposure. Please follow these guidelines:

  • Wearing a face mask during your Dana-Farber visit is required if you have any cold or flu symptoms, such as a cough, runny nose, sore throat, or fever.
  • You must wear a mask if you have recently had COVID-19, or you've had a known COVID-19 exposure in the last 10 days. (If you recently tested positive for COVID, please call your Dana-Farber doctor’s office at least 48 hours before your appointment.)
  • We encourage you to still wear a mask if that is your preference. Our policy no longer requires staff to wear a mask at all times, but your care team will respect your wishes in wearing a mask during extended clinical care.
  • Wearing a mask may be required or recommended by your care team based on your health and treatment. For example, masks are typically advised for stem cell transplant patients for one year after transplant.
  • Face masks are available for your use at our entrances and hygiene stations.

We will continue to monitor levels of respiratory illness in the community and adjust our face mask policy when appropriate. We check a number of different data points, including rates of influenza-like illness, staff absenteeism, and emergency room visits and hospitalizations caused by respiratory viruses.

Visitors

We ask that patients in clinic areas limit visitors to two at a time, due to space constraints and the privacy of other patients. Please review our outpatient visitor policy for full details about bringing a companion to Dana-Farber.