Get PrEP at City Clinic
We can help you get PrEP or find out where you can get it. Call us at 628-217-6692.
We can prescribe PrEP as a pill to people with many kinds of insurance, or no insurance.
We can prescribe PrEP as a shot in some cases. It depends on your coverage.
If you have Kaiser or Veterans Administration (VA) insurance, we cannot prescribe you PrEP. But we can still see you for HIV and STI testing, and we can help you figure out how to get PrEP through your insurance.
Other places to get PrEP
If you have Kaiser, you must get PrEP at Kaiser:
If you are a patient with the San Francisco Health Network, you can also get PrEP at your primary care clinic or get PrEP at Ward 86.
Visit Please PrEP Me to find PrEP providers nationwide.
PrEP as a pill is also available from online providers, with medication shipped directly to your door.
See a list of clinics in SF that provide the PrEP shot. In this list, the PrEP shot is called “CAB-LA".
This is because insurance covers PrEP, and people without insurance can get assistance that covers PrEP. We can sign you up for that assistance at our clinic.
As of January 1, 2024, more low-income Californians are eligible for full Medi-Cal. People who are undocumented can now get full Medi-Cal. Find out more.
If your income is higher than the limit for Medi-Cal, you can sign up for insurance with Covered California.
You do not have to get insurance to take PrEP. But having insurance means your costs are covered for all your medical needs, not just PrEP.
Take PrEP as a pill
You can take PrEP as a pill. There are two types of pills for PrEP:
· TDF/FTC: available as brand-name (Truvada) or generic (emtricitabine + tenofovir disoproxil fumarate)
· TAF/FTC: only available as a brand-name medication (Descovy)
If you come to our clinic for PrEP, we will recommend one of these two pills based on your medical history and coverage options.
Read "PrEP Basics" to learn more about taking PrEP as a pill.
Take a PrEP as a shot
You can also take PrEP as shot. This is also called injectable PrEP.
The shot gives you a medication called cabotegravir. The brand name of cabotegravir is Apretude. It is only available as a brand-name medication.
You can only get cabotegravir as a shot given by a medical provider. You cannot do the shot yourself or take it home.
You need to get the cabotegravir shot about every 2 months. Otherwise, it stops working to prevent HIV.
PrEP as a shot is not as widely available yet as the pill forms of PrEP. This is because PrEP as a shot is newer, and doctors’ offices have to set up a system for getting the shot delivered and stored at their office. The pill forms of PrEP are simpler for any doctor’s office to prescribe, because they only have to send the prescription to a pharmacy.
Read "Injectable PrEP Basics" to learn more about taking PrEP as a shot.
Choosing between PrEP as a pill or as a shot
The choice involves several factors. Here are some things to think about:
Your provider can help you with making the choice.
See a comparison of the different types of PrEP medications.
If you take PrEP as a pill, you need to take it according to a schedule for it to work. There are two schedules people use:
Take 1 pill every day
The 2-1-1 schedule
More medications for PrEP are under study.
Results from a study in June 2024 showed that a PrEP medication injected every 6 months was safe and effective. This medication is named lenacapavir.
Lenacapavir is awaiting approval for PrEP by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is not yet available to the public.
You can get doxy-PEP at SF City Clinic. If you get PrEP from another clinic, you can also ask them for doxy-PEP. Learn more about doxy-PEP.
