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| Craig Ruttle/AP Photo |
It’s the end of an era for a once-critical pandemic document: The ubiquitous white Covid-19 vaccination cards are being phased out.
Now that Covid-19 vaccines are not being distributed by the federal government, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stopped printing new cards.
The federal government shipped more than 980 million cards between late 2020, when the first vaccines came out, through May 10, according to the latest available data from the CDC.
Federal and local health officials don’t expect the discontinuation of the cards to be a particularly big change, since the days of keeping them tucked in purses and wallets to ensure entry into festivals, bars and restaurants are largely over. If you’ve held on to your card, it’s still valid as proof of vaccination. Otherwise, people who need their Covid-19 immunization records will need to request them just like any other vaccine.
In many cases, the clinic, pharmacy or health department that provided the shot can provide those records. Every state and some cities have an immunization registry, though rules vary on when records are included and options for obtaining copies of your records. Records from the mass vaccination sites held early in the pandemic also should be available in those registries, depending on state laws. There is no national registry for immunization records.
For example, Texas requires patients’ written consent to be included in the registry, San Antonio Metropolitan Health District spokesman David Andres Alegria said. Other places, including Wyoming and Philadelphia’s city-specific record system, require vaccine providers to log all vaccinations.
Many states offer digital vaccination records for individuals either online or through an app. Users can save a certificate or a QR code that proves they are vaccinated. And some websites will even track and alert patients when they’re due for another one. --->READ MORE HERE
Do you know where your Covid-19 vaccine card is? If not, you may want to track it down, because getting a new one could be tricky.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is no longer distributing the white cards that were given out with Covid-19 vaccines earlier in the pandemic, according to the agency's website.
The CDC notes that it does not keep vaccination records and says recipients should contact their state health department's immunization information system (IIS) if they want to keep track of their Covid-19 shots.
"Your state's IIS cannot issue you a vaccination card, but they can provide a digital or paper copy of your full vaccination record, including your COVID-19 vaccinations," the agency says.
The CDC recommends keeping a copy of your vaccination record for your primary care provider to help make future medical decisions. And if you take your vaccination record to your doctor's office, they might be able to give you a new card.
But major pharmacy chains say you don't need your old card to get the newly updated vaccine.
"A vaccination card is not required for vaccination, but our pharmacists will complete them if patients bring them in," CVS said in a statement Tuesday --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
CDC stops printing COVID-19 vaccination cards: pandemic relic
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