Covid-19 Information
Our stance on the
Covid-19 Vaccine
A message from our founder….
Vaccines seem to always get the blame for lots of things. Really, we should be focused on all the good vaccines do for our world! Is it not amazing that we live in a time when technology can produce a flu vaccine every year???
Protect against cancer through the HPV vaccine….
And, now, we have protection during a pandemic that has crippled our world?
Throughout my career, I have seen the end of Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib vaccine), Streptococcus pneumoniae (Prevnar 13 vaccine) and the decrease in the complications and hospital admissions for Rotavirus (oral Rotavirus vaccine).
Pediatricians advocate routinely to protect children and adolescents against harmful diseases, and we will continue to do so. The CDC has recently lowered the age for the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine to age 12, showing a nearly perfect efficacy rate. The AAP strongly supports this statement and so do the practitioners at Shults Pediatrics.
We will be offering the Covid-19 vaccine beginning June 3rd. You may call 865-670-1560 to schedule today!
Additional Services
All patients who are thought to be COVID+ or exhibiting symptoms will be triaged on the phone first and screened on a case by case basis . Testing supplies are limited in our area.
We are offering telehealth options for a variety of services including behavioral health, rashes, and allergies. Call to schedule.
For more information please see:
Tennessee Department of Health:
https://www.tn.gov/health/cedep/ncov.html
CDC:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
ACIP:
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/vacc-specific/covid-19.html
As our area becomes more concentrated with cases, guidance may change. We are available to answer your questions but hope this will provide a good starting point on what we recommend first.
Our Covid-19 Procedures
As pediatricians we find preventative care to be essential in growing healthy children. Though COVID-19 has shown little impact to the infant, childhood, and adolescent populations keeping our patients up-to-date and safe are top priorities. We highly recommend that you keep routine appointments and call when you have questions. To best accommodate our patients, their families and our staff we have made a few changes on how our clinic is currently operating.
Face
Covering
We are asking that all individuals who enter the clinic cover their mouth and nose. The CDC recommendation has been made that all who engage in social settings and unable to keep at least 6 feet in distance from others are to wear a face covering. We are asking that all individuals 2 years and up wear a mask (this can be homemade). We will provide a mask for those who arrive without covering.
Appointment
Scheduling
We are offering well and sick appointments at set intervals to avoid cross contamination. (this is subject to change as patient demand fluctuates)
Well appointments are offered between 7am-11am and from 1-4pm.
Sick appointments are offered between 11:15-12pm and 5-6pm.
Telehealth options daily
Appointment
on Site
We will not have a waiting room open to the public. Everyone who enters will be screened. Please reduce your, and our staffs exposure by only bringing visitors essential for the care of you child. We are asking all patients to call when they arrive in the parking lot to start check in and for assignment to an exam room. You may be asked to wait in your car if a room is not yet sanitized. A team member will meet you in the exam room to begin the exam.
FAQs
When should your child be tested?
Questions of exposure to elderly, immunocompromised, or other high-risk individuals.
Questions in regard to return to school, daycare, or work. Questions about current illness.
*We have a limited number of tests in our office, so we are reserving those for sick patients and those with extenuating circumstances*
When will we test someone in our office?
Known exposure to positive (+) with an unmasked exposure 6 feet apart and longer than 10 minutes. Symptoms of fever, cough, runny nose depending on the circumstances.
Where can you get tested if you do not meet our metrics?
Summit Medical Group has availability by appointment at their Summit Express Clinics located at: (children ages 2+): https://summitexpressclinics.com/
Farragut: 865-671-6720 10820 Kingston Pike, Suite 11 Knox, 37934 (Next to Papa John’s near Costco)
Bearden: 865-558-9822 6537 Kingston Pike Knox, 37919 (next to Calhoun’s)
Fountain City: 865-687-7704 103 Midlake Dr. Knox, 37918 (behind the duck pond, lower level)
Powell: 865-824-1524 7545 Barnett Way Powell, 37849 (Emory station shopping center)
Knoxville Health Department Testing Centers : https://www.tn.gov/content/tn/health/cedep/ncov/remote-assessment-sites.html
Some Urgent Care Centers: https://www.afcurgentcareknoxvilletn.com/, https://cvshealth.com/covid-19/testing-locations
If you choose to not test, but do meet criteria, we will recommend quarantining for 14 days regardless if asymptomatic. If your child becomes symptomatic we will recommend that you quarantine 10 days past day of last recorded fever without fever reducing medicine.
Keep in mind an exposure to someone who has been exposed is not a true exposure. In children the virus has been mild. We always tell you to quarantine your child with fever, no matter the cause. The incubation period with COVID-19 at this time is 14 days.