The vaccination test can allow us to resume our normal activities in the near future.
Photos showing the COVID-19 vaccination card as a badge of honor have been making rounds on social media for months, but the card is more than fodder for selfies, it could be your ticket to freedom in the next months. it must be protected as such.
The beautiful paper card contains vital information, including the brand of vaccine you received and the dates you were vaccinated. According to public health experts, having this information on hand is essential in case you need it to prove your vaccination status or streamline possible future booster shots.
It is likely that vaccination records will eventually be replaced if they are lost or damaged, but it is especially important to keep in mind vaccination records during this pandemic, when the country’s health systems are stretched.
“A vaccination card is a tool that people can use to declare that they have some level of protection against COVID,” said John Brownstein, Ph.D., ABC News contributor and Hospital epidemiologist. Boston Children’s. “Being able to assess immunity against COVID is a key part of trying to resume our daily lives.”
“What these little cards can do is make something like international travel easier by avoiding quarantine or testing requirements,” said Amesh Adalja, MD, FIDSA, an infectious disease specialist and senior academic at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. he told ABC News.
The logistics of how a “vaccine passport” would work are still being discussed. “Nothing has been established yet,” Adalja said.
However, the COVID vaccination card is not the first of its kind. Some countries, for example, require yellow fever vaccination tests and many public and private schools require enrolled children to be fully vaccinated.
All vaccines given in the U.S. should have a paper trail, but if your vaccine card can help you navigate the new normal, you may want to treat it with care.
Our specialists then answer common questions about the COVID-19 vaccination card and how it can be used to move forward.
Why is it important to keep the vaccination card?
“It’s important for people to be aware of the vaccine they received and when they received their vaccines,” said Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, vice chair of the World Health Committee of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and emerging leader in biosafety at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, he told ABC News. “It’s proof you have the vaccine.”
While vaccine studies are ongoing, the brand and batch number on your card may be relevant when it comes time for a booster dose, he said.
“Whether it’s school, leisure or travel, there will be an expectation that to resume these activities you will have to retry and go into quarantine or produce immunization tests,” Brownstein said.
What happens if I lose my card?
It is possible to get a duplicate blank card, but you will need to fill it out with your vaccination information. Fortunately, both the facility and the state where you received the vaccine should keep these records.
According to Adalja, “you should go back to 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.
Kuppalli explains that all states have an immunization database, but that the data is not shared between state lines.
Some national channels, such as CVS and Walgreens, also promise to have apps that show vaccination records if you’ve received the vaccines with them.
What should I do with my card once I have it?
Kuppalli suggests that his patients take a picture of the card on their phones. Brownstein agrees, adding that the card should be saved to save it along with other important documents, such as social security cards or passports.
Also, because the cards have identifying information (such as your name and date of birth), consider hiding this information if you post a selfie with the card online.
Will vaccination records be digital in the future?
Several companies and private organizations are developing secure applications that will use an individual’s immunization records to verify COVID-19 immunity, rather than making people trust a fragile piece of paper forever.
International standards need to be set before accepting a worldwide “vaccine passport”. Brownstein said “it will take some work,” but multinational organizations like the World Health Organization are thinking about these challenges.
What should I do with online ads claiming to sell vaccination cards?
Public health officials have serious concerns about fraud when it comes to these cards, which is another reason why digital verification can be important for the development of vaccine passports.
You should never buy a vaccination card online, even seemingly reputable sources are selling a fraudulent product.
Is there any reason I wouldn’t want to have a vaccination record?
Your local public health department already keeps a record of COVID-19 testing and vaccination status under lock and key, so shredding this vaccination card won’t gain you any more privacy.
And in the “new normalcy” we come out of the pandemic, the vaccine card could be your “ticket back to normalcy,” Brownstein said.
Leah Croll, MD, is a neurology resident at NYU Langone Health and a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit.