As you schedule your fall COVID booster, you might be searching for that white vaccination card we were all issued a couple of years ago that documents each shot. But do you need it?
Yes, and no.
The card is a medical record of your shots, so you might not want to toss it. It’s also a part of history your grandkid can take to show ‘n’ tell someday, especially considering the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention won’t be printing more of them.
“CDC no longer distributes the white CDC COVID-19 Vaccination cards and does not maintain vaccination records,” the agency announced last week.
You can reach out to your state’s immunization information system to get a copy of your or your child’s shots, including those for COVID.
The Georgia Immunization Registry can be found on the state Department of Public Health’s website.
You can also request a copy of an immunizations record on the site. If you have questions, you can call them at 404-657-3158 or email to dph-immreg@dph.ga.gov.
So why isn’t your white card needed, even though the CDC recommends everyone 6 months and older get a COVID shot this fall?
Well, a CDC spokesperson told Health, the federal government is no longer distributing the shots, so its agency doesn’t need to keep track of them.
The CDC also wants the public to start thinking of COVID shots the same way they do flu shots, which no one gets a special card for, William Schaffner, MD, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt Medical Center, told Health.
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