Lost Your Vaccination Card? Here’s What To Do
Already lost your vaccination card? Don’t panic. There are a number of steps you can take in order to restore proof of your vaccination. Here are some helpful steps to obtain proof of your vaccination history.
COVID-19 vaccination sites are required to report data within 72 hours in their state’s immunization system so although you may not have physical proof, there are databases that can be accessed in order to confirm your vaccination status.
The first step that the CDC recommends is to contact your vaccination provider, which means the location where you received your shot. When provided with a valid form of ID, the vaccination providers should be able to look you up in their system and promptly provide you a new vaccination card with the same exact information as before.
If you are unable to contact your vaccination provider, you can then reach out to your state health department’s immunization information system (IIS) for assistance. The CDC itself does not store vaccination record information. Rather, each state has a website, phone number, or email address that you can access in order to find out how to gain personal vaccination records in your specific state.
For those of you who have not lost your vaccination card, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) still suggests taking a photo of both the front and back of your card in the event that you lose it. Be sure to store these photos in a secure digital app, like OneRecord, as vaccination cards display sensitive personal information that could be used by scammers to perform identity theft or create phony vaccination cards.
Although there are means of obtaining new physical cards if they get lost or damaged, you don’t want to be left scrambling the night before a flight or be denied entry to an event because you do not have proof of your legitimate immunization. The easiest thing for you is to keep a digital record at your fingertips. Plus it's more secure to carry than your paper record. Download OneRecord and you’ll be able to keep your COVID-19 immunization data securely on your phone ready anytime you may need them. Ultimately, the best policy when it comes to vaccination cards is to be proactive about your storage and handling of them.
