, 4 min read
How to keep track of your child's vaccination records
Who holds your child's vaccination record, what to write on it at each visit, and how to get an official copy when the card is lost.
Co-founder & CEO, Lifelong
A school or childcare form asks for your child's vaccination record, and the card is not where you left it. The card was one copy. This guide covers who holds the others, and how to get an official copy in the United States.
Who keeps a child's vaccination record?
A child's vaccination record is kept by whoever gave the vaccine, and often by a state registry as well.
The United States has no national file. The CDC says so itself: "CDC does not keep vaccination records." Your child's doctor keeps a record of the vaccines given in that clinic. States and some large cities also have an immunization information system (IIS): a confidential registry that, in CDC's description, combines immunization information from different sources into a single record.
What should you write down at each visit?
Write down four things at each visit: the vaccine, the date, the dosage and the name of the clinic. CDC says to bring your child's record and ask the doctor or nurse to write down the first three. It suggests adding the clinic's name so you know where to get the official record if you misplace your copy.
The same page gives two things to ask while you are in the room: how you can get an official copy from the clinic, and whether the doctor can enter the vaccine in your state's immunization information system.
Then photograph the card before you leave the building. CDC notes that some people keep the record with birth certificates and passports. That works until the parent filling in the form is not the parent standing next to the drawer.
The record will be written in abbreviations. CDC publishes a list of what each one stands for.
Where do you look when the card is lost?
CDC names three places to try for an official copy of a child's vaccination record.
- Your child's doctor or clinic. CDC warns that clinics may save records for only a few years. If your child had vaccines at different locations, you may have to contact each one.
- Your state's immunization registry. The next section covers how to ask.
- Your child's school. Most schools keep vaccination records on file, and CDC says they may keep them for a year or two after a student leaves.
There is no official script for the call to a clinic. This is my own wording: "I need an official copy of my child's vaccination record for a school form. How do I request it, and how long does it take?" Ask whether the clinic can also pull vaccines given elsewhere. CDC says a doctor may be able to get records from the state IIS for vaccines given at other locations by other providers.
If none of the three has the record, talk to your child's doctor. What to do about a missing vaccination history is a medical question, and CDC's page sends parents to the doctor with it too.
How do you request a record from a state immunization registry?
You request the record from the registry itself, because each one sets its own process. CDC's Contacts for IIS Immunization Records page lists the registry for each state and territory and for a few cities, with a phone number and usually a website or email address. Some entries link straight to a records request form or a public portal.
CDC says to contact the registry in your state, or in the state where your child received their last vaccine. Ask whether it holds a record for your child and how to request an official copy.
A state registry may not hold a full record for your child. CDC says some people's records in these systems may not be complete, and under the standards it sets, parents must be allowed to choose whether to participate.
What else will a school or camp ask for?
A school or camp may ask for a physical examination as well as the vaccination record. CDC notes that some athletic programs, sports teams and summer camps require physical examinations and vaccinations, and that vaccine requirements for schools and childcare differ in each state. The only reliable list is the one your school or program gives you.
Where does Lifelong fit?
Lifelong keeps your copy of a vaccination record, and the official record stays with the clinic or registry that holds it. When you upload a photograph or a PDF, Lifelong reads it and files it on a timeline by date. The details it pulls out are suggestions you confirm before they are saved.
When a school wants an official copy, it comes from the sources above. What the app changes is the search through the drawer: the record you photographed last year is on the timeline under its date, on the phone of whichever parent is filling in the form.
Lifelong is on iPhone today, with Android coming soon. How children's records and teenagers' accounts work is set out in the FAQ, under "children and teenagers". Our guide to organizing a family's medical records covers what to keep for each person.
Sources
Lifelong is a health information tool, not medical care. Nothing here is medical advice; for a decision about someone’s health, talk to their doctor. Medical disclaimer.
