Buzz
When I received my most recent COVID booster—the one with the newly updated spike proteins, which we should all be sure to get—the pharmacist, as I pulled my sleeve back down, asked if I wanted her to update my vaccine card. Honestly, I had forgotten I even had one.
Vaccine cards are no longer needed to track your shots or prove your vaccination status, and the CDC has ceased issuing them. So, if yours is missing, don’t worry. And if you still have it, maybe keep it for the future, to pass it down as a memento of the time you endured a pandemic.
How to Track Your COVID Vaccines Without a Vaccine Card
Tracking vaccines has become much easier, which is why the cards are no longer necessary. If you were among the first to get a COVID shot, you likely recall scheduling your first and second doses (three weeks apart for Pfizer, four for Moderna), then counting the weeks until your third dose (if you’re immunocompromised) and the months until you became eligible for a booster.
Those rules are no longer in place. Now, most of us only need a single dose of the new vaccine, and that’s it. We’re finished. There are just a few exceptions to this:
Children under the age of 5 may need more than one dose, depending on which vaccine they receive and whether they’ve had a COVID vaccine before.
People who are moderately to severely immunocompromised might benefit from additional doses; the CDC has more information for you here.
If you’ve recently had COVID, you may choose to delay your next vaccine for three months. While it’s not required, you may have some temporary protection from your immune system having recently fought the virus, so you can rely on that for a little while.
How to Check Your Previous Vaccine History
If you don’t have a card, tracking your past vaccinations is the same as for flu shots or any other vaccine: your healthcare provider will have documented it in your medical records.
If you received your vaccine at a pharmacy, they will have a record of it. If you got it from your primary care doctor, they’ll have it on file. If your provider uses an app like MyChart to share lab results and medical records, your vaccine history is likely stored there. If you’ve checked and can’t find it, simply ask your provider for the details. In case you’re unsure where you got your vaccine, some states maintain an immunization database that may have your records.
By the way, while it’s technically illegal to forge a CDC vaccine card, there’s nothing preventing you from jotting down your vaccine dates on a card or piece of paper, much like parents do with their babies’ immunizations. As long as you don’t place the CDC seal on it, it’s just paper.
