My state (WA) uses “myIR” as the database for vaccination records. In order to prep for the future, anticipating that we will have to prove we are Covid 19 vaccinated in order to travel, etc. , I decided to check my records and see if they are up to date. I am going to get the Covid vaccine and want to make sure there will be a record of “me” in the state database. What I found was shockingly bogus and clunky. There is no way the majority of the public will be able to navigate this mess of a database. It looks like a few other states use this system (AK, AZ, MD, WV).
MyIR’s newest registration option, can give you near-instant access to your records. For verification purposes, your registration information is used to locate an exact record match in the local immunization registry. If an exact match is found, including the same phone number, an verification code is sent to you either via text message or phone call. If an exact match is found but the phone number does not match, a verification code is sent to the mailing address in your record.
The bottom line was the system kept trying to send a text message to a land line number for verification and there was nothing I could do to update this number for the verification process. Does anybody seriously think a reliable means of verifying vaccination records can be started on this MyIR? What do the other states use?
Anyway, I think it is prudent for us all to dive in to our state vaccination records and get ready for chaotic rollout of electronic verification of immunizations this summer/fall. I hope everybody has better luck than I did.
Like a passport or driver’s license you show when you go to the airport is not a digital record, so it would seem that they should accept a paper document for vaccination as well.
In Idaho, Public Health issues a vaccination card on-site at the time of the first covid dose. It will be updated after my second dose today. The card has lines for two additional doses in future. It’s not wallet sized but can be folded. For me it fits nicely in a zippered compartment in my purse. Hmmm…I bet I can add the info to Health on my iPhone…
Yes I’ve seen those cards here too. I am speculating that each state database will be tied into a digital vaccination card necessary for travel. If the feds decide they want that, there is nobody to stop them. Sort of like the way TSA precheck morphed into something people pay for in order to travel more efficiently.
I might be paranoid about that but time will tell. Still working on getting access to “MyIR”…
We still don’t know that vaccines will be required for domestic travel though, right? There is just a lot of speculation on that right now.
As it stands now, for international travel, you need a negative test to get into the U.S, but do not need a vaccine. Who knows what it will be like in 6 months. It could be that enough vaccinations make the issue disappear significantly.
Requirement for Proof of Negative COVID-19 Test or Recovery from COVID-19 for All Air Passengers Arriving in the United States
If you plan to travel internationally, you will need to get tested no more than 3 days before you travel by air into the United States (US) and show your negative result to the airline before you board your flight, or be prepared to show documentation of recovery (proof of a recent positive viral test and a letter from your healthcare provider or a public health official stating that you were cleared to travel).
There are no vaccination requirements for visitors to the United States, and US residents traveling abroad do not need any vaccines to reenter the United States.
Side-note: You know how everything in the airport is so expensive? Like if you forget chapstick or aspirin, you can buy it from the airport giftshop for $20.
I think the airport giftshop covid tests will cost $800.
Eric, there are several problems with the paper records, examples include:
ability to be faked easily, there are no security measures on/in the cards like there are for driver’s licenses, etc., I to would make them prohibitively expensive
what I received from Walgreens in WV, was a standardized card being used across the nation that was hand written by the guy that gave me the shot; it had errors on it that, at the time, I didn’t realize, like my birthdate was in ‘44 vice ‘54.
the handwriting of the person is almost unintelligible, though I presume others are fine.
Seems unlikely that vaccinations are going to be required for domestic travel anytime soon as long as they are only provisionally approved by the FDA. You can’t really require people take a medication not fully approved (though as I’ve said elsewhere, I don’t think that should stop most folks from taking it). For access to private spaces, maybe, but not federal/state anything.
I have the paper card. Could easily be faked if someone were motivated.
The EU and airlines are headed towards vaccine passports. Unpredictable what we will end up with here but if the international airlines are allowed to require this at US airports the domestic airlines will surely follow.
I promise to only revive long dead threads when they prove themselves incredibly prescient. The chances of an easily forged or lost vax card being good enough look slim. Something verifiable will probably be needed before too long.
I received both Moderna vaccinations at a Hub. My card has bar code stickers with Moderna COVID 19 Vaccine, a lot number and expiration date. My wife got the Moderna vaccines from Walmart pharmacy, just hand written info. I don’t know if hers have anything like lot numbers.
If they had held to the protocol of the stickers, it would be harder to forge.
