What to do if you lose your COVID-19 vaccination card, and tips to safeguard it

If you got your COVID-19 vaccination, you received a vaccination card from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with information on the vaccine manufacturer, the dose numbers, the date and the location of where you got the shot.
The card is small, potentially causing a lot of people to misplace it.

What should you do if you misplace or lose your card?

First - don’t panic! The vaccination center, pharmacy, hospital or doctor’s office where you received the vaccine has the information in a database.
You can call your state’s health department to get a replacement card, according to the CDC. Find the contact information for your state here.
If you received your vaccine through a pharmacy, like Walgreens and CVS, visit the pharmacy where you got vaccinated and ask the pharmacist to print out the record.

What can you do to safeguard your card?

First take a picture of the card, and email it to yourself, so you have a record.
Make a photocopy of your card, and keep a hard copy on file in a safe place.
Instead of carrying it with you at all times, keep your card in a safe place - think where you keep important documents like your passport - and only take it out when needed. Some sports and entertainment venues are requiring proof of vaccination to attend, and you may need it for travel too.
Send a copy of your card to your primary doctor, so they also have a record of it. If your primary doctor has a health care app, you may be able to upload the image through there.
Laminating your vaccination card will make it more durable and protect it. But some experts say that this might not be a good idea, because you won’t be able to update the card with boosters information after it is laminated. What everyone agrees on - only laminate it after your last dose, if you get a two-dose vaccine. Check with local shops for lamination services.
There are a number of vaccination “passport” initiatives underway that would make vaccination status easy to share digitally - in March, New York State became the first state to introduce a digital tool. New Jersey and Connecticut do not have this initiative yet, and it’s unclear if there will be a federal one.