You Can Throw Away Your COVID Vaccination Card Right Now.

When I received my latest COVID booster dose—new with the updated spike proteins we should all be sure to get —the pharmacist asked as I rolled up my sleeve if I wanted her to update my vaccination card. To be honest, I even forgot I had it.

Not only are vaccination cards no longer needed to track your vaccinations or confirm your vaccination status, the CDC has stopped issuing them . So if you can’t find yours, don’t worry. And if you still have it on hand, tuck it away and pass it on to your grandchildren as a memento of your time surviving the pandemic.

How to Track COVID Vaccinations Without a Vaccination Card

Tracking vaccinations has become much easier, so cards are no longer needed. If you got the COVID vaccine when they first came out, you probably remember timing your first and second doses (three weeks apart for Pfizer, four for Moderna) and then counting down the weeks until your third shot (if you have immunocompromised) and months until you qualify for a booster.

Now these rules no longer exist. For most of us, one dose of the new vaccine is enough and that’s it. Were made. There are only a few exceptions to this rule:

• Children under 5 years of age may need more than one dose, depending on which vaccine they receive and whether they have previously had a COVID vaccine.
• People who are moderately to severely immunocompromised may benefit from additional doses; The CDC has more information for you here .
• If you’ve recently been infected with COVID, you can (if you want) delay your next vaccination by three months. There’s no need to put it off, but you probably have some protection because your immune system has recently fought off the virus, so you can count on it for a short time.

How to find out about your previous vaccines

If you don’t have a card, you track your previous vaccinations the same way you would for flu shots or any other vaccine: your provider will track it in your medical records.

If you received the vaccine at a pharmacy, the pharmacy will have a record of it. If you got it from your regular doctor, they will have a record. If your provider uses an app like MyChart to share lab results and medical records, your vaccination record is likely stored there somewhere. If you’ve looked and still can’t find it, ask your service provider for this information. And if you can’t remember where you got the vaccine, some states have an immunization database that may contain your records.

By the way, although it is technically illegal to falsify a CDC vaccination card , there is nothing stopping you from writing down vaccination dates on a card or piece of paper, as parents often do for infant vaccinations. Until you put the CDC stamp on it, it’s just a piece of paper.