Vaccination card do's and don'ts

But once you get your shot, what do you do with your vaccination card?

Annie and Bernard Kearny said that, after they got vaccinated, they heard Staples stores would laminate their vaccination cards for free to keep them safe. But when they went to a store, they were told lamination wasn’t recommended.

“It will mess up the writing," Bernard Kearny said. "I don’t think you’d be able to see your name and the other information, and the card would be no good."

Dr. Elizabeth Ramsey, director of clinical business operations at UNC Faculty Physicians in Chapel Hill, also discourages laminating the cards.

"When patients laminate cards, it can smear the ink and also cause it to disappear, depending on what type of pen it is," Ramsey said.

Instead, she recommends keeping it in a laminated slip – just like the Kearnys did.

“You just insert the card," Annie Kearny said, "and then you’d be able to keep it, and it would do the same, except is not actually laminated.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention simply recommends taking a photo of the card as a back-up copy in case the actual card gets lost or stolen. In case the card is lost or stolen, the CDC says to contact DHHS or the vaccination provider to access your vaccination records.

Ramsey said doses are documented along with all your other vaccines, so the information is safe in your medical records.

"We are able to give them a new vaccination card on their second visit if they forgot it on their first visit," she said. "We're able to make them a new card and ensure that they leave with both of their doses documented on their card."