Protect COVID-19 cards but lamination may not be the best way

OFFICIAL VACCINATION RECORD

For many, it felt like winning a lottery on the day they received the second dose. And they each received an official COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card to prove it.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) advises keeping the card, which bears the recipient’s name, date of birth, vaccine type and vaccination date, in a safe place. People should also take a photo of the card as a backup.

The American Public Health Association counsels against laminating vaccination records, according to news reports. That’s chiefly because that card has blank spaces to record future shots, whether the second dose of a two-dose regimen or a booster shot should one become necessary. Sealing the card in plastic would prevent the vaccine provider from adding such information to the original card. And the heat from the laminating machine can damage the ink.

People can protect the card by recording a digital picture on their mobile phones, and then putting the actual card in a safe place in their homes, maybe with their passports and yellow international vaccine cards used for foreign travel.

People who want to keep the card in a more handy spot can put it in a plastic sleeve, which will protect it from stains and keep it safe and stain-free in a plastic sleeve — like the ones used for ID badges. A set of five plastic sleeves is available for $4.99 on Amazon.

According to AARP, it’s unwise to post vaccine cards on social media because the contain sensitive information. Instead, treat the card like a Social Security card. It’s important, private and uniquely personal.

People who have already laminated their cards should not panic. Staples and some other big-box stores have been offering free lamination of COVID-19 vaccine cards, so many people have laminated cards in an effort to protect them.

Should a COVID-19 booster be needed in the future, they can ask for another paper record to prove it.

People who have lost their vaccine cards or never received them in the first place can contact the site where they got their first shot. Those who are unable to reach original vaccine providers can try the California Department of Health’s Immunization Information System (IIS).

Vaccine providers are required to report all COVID vaccinations to the state.

The CDC has contact information for the IIS in your state.