Photos showing the COVID-19 vaccination card as a badge of honor have been circulating on social media for months, but the card is more than food for selfies, it could be your ticket to freedom in the coming months – so it should if thus protected.
The precious paper card contains important information, including the vaccination mark you received and the dates on which you were vaccinated. According to public health experts, it is important to keep the information up to date if you need it to prove your vaccination status, or to streamline possible future boosters.
Vaccination records can probably eventually be replaced if they are lost or damaged, but it is especially important to take good care of your vaccination records during this pandemic when the health care systems in the country are thin.
“A vaccination card is a tool that allows people to declare that they have some protection against COVID,” said John Brownstein, MD, an associate of ABC News and an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital. “Being able to assess immunity to COVID is a critical part of our daily lives.”
“What these little tickets have the potential to do is make something like international travel easier by avoiding the requirements for quarantine or testing,” said Amesh Adalja, MD, FIDSA, an infectious disease specialist and senior scholar. to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Safety, said. , told ABC News.
The logistics of how a “vaccine passport” would work are still at stake. “Nothing has been put in place yet,” Adalja said.
Nevertheless, the COVID vaccination card is hardly the first of its kind. For example, some countries require proof of vaccination against yellow fever, and many public and private schools require the enrolled children to be vaccinated in full.
All vaccinations administered in the US must have a paper trail, but if your vaccination card can help you get through our new normal, you can treat it carefully.
Below, our specialists answer common questions about the COVID-19 vaccination card and how it can be used in the future.
Why is it important to keep your vaccination card?
“It is important for people to record what vaccine they received and when they get shots,” said Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, vice chair of the Infectious Diseases Society of America’s global health committee, and an emerging leader in biosafety at the Johns Hopkins Center. for health safety, told ABC News. “It’s your proof that you got your vaccine.”
Although vaccine studies are still ongoing, the vaccine brand and number on your card may be relevant when it’s time for a booster dose, she said.
“Whether it’s school, entertainment venues or travel, there will be an expectation that you will have to test again to resume activities and be quarantined or provide proof of vaccination,” Brownstein said.
What if I lose my card?
It is possible to get a double blank card, but you will need to fill it in with your vaccination information. Fortunately, both the facility and the state where you received your vaccine should keep these records.
According to Adalja, “you have to go back to the place where you were vaccinated,” and if that doesn’t work, you have another option: call your state’s health department, which also keeps a record.
Every state has a vaccination database, Kuppalli explains, but the data is not shared across state lines.
Some national chains, such as CVS and Walgreens, also promise to have programs that show vaccination records if you have received vaccinations with them.
What should I do with my card once I get it?
Kuppalli suggests that her patients take the card on their phones. Brownstein agrees, adding that the card should be kept for safekeeping along with other important documents, such as social security cards or passports.
Because cards contain identification information, such as your name and date of birth, you should also consider hiding the information when you post a selfie with the card online.
Will vaccination records be digital in the future?
Several private companies and organizations are developing secure applications that will use the individual’s vaccination records to verify the immunity of COVID-19 – rather than making people rely on fragile paper forever.
International standards must be established before a digital “vaccine passport” can be accepted around the world. It’s going to ‘work’, Brownstein said, but multinationals such as the World Health Organization are considering these challenges.
What should I do about online advertising that claims to sell vaccination cards?
Public health officials are seriously concerned about fraud when it comes to these cards, and this is also a reason why digital authentication can be important for the development of vaccine passports.
You should never buy a vaccination card online – even seemingly reputable sources are cheating on a fraudulent product.
Is there any reason I do not want a vaccination record?
Your local Department of Public Health already holds a record of COVID-19 tests and vaccination status behind bars, so you will not earn extra privacy if you shred the vaccination card.
And in the ‘new normal’ as we see it from the pandemic, the vaccination card may just be your ‘ticket to normal’, Brownstein said.
Leah Croll, MD, is a neurological resident at NYU Langone Health and a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit.
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