There are various ways to document that you received a coronavirus vaccine. Some people have snapped selfies proudly displaying the Band-Aid on their upper arm. Some vaccination sites are handing out stickers. But the official form of documentation is the small white vaccination record card issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which you receive after your first shot.
“You do want to make sure you keep it safe,” says Kelly Moore, deputy director of the Immunization Action Coalition. “You do want to make a copy of it and keep that on file, not because it’s the only record, but because it’s the one that you control.”
Here’s what Moore and other experts say you need to know about the cards and what you should do after receiving one.
Keep your original card in a safe place.
Carry copies on you, or take a picture with your phone.
Most states are adopting a "digital passport" that will not only allow verification of vaccination status, but allow for verification of recent COVID-19 testing results. For example: New York State is using this: [covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov]
Don't laminate your original vaccination card. Future boosters may be needed, and will be recorded on the same card. If you have already laminated your original card, you can request a new copy from your state department of health. Since these requests can take weeks, you should request the new copy now.
Put it with your passport, birth certificate, social security card. Make a copy of the front and back and have that copy laminated.
They suggest not laminating in case there are future vaccines to be added.
@HippieChick58 That's why you laminate the copy and save the original intact for adding stickers later. The copy is to carry with you to show you're vaccinated.
@barjoe Staples was laminating the copy they made for us, returning the original, for free. I leave the original at home, carry the fairly indestructible laminated one in my purse.
@AnneWimsey They did that for free?
@barjoe yes,for about 2 months, all their stores in the area....I heard it was a rolling thing all over the country. When it started, you could wait right there...a week later, when i finally got there, you came back the next day for the laminated copy, they gave you the original back immediately.