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Digital Version Of COVID Vaccine Card Now Available To All Californians

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Californians can now access a digital copy of their coronavirus vaccine record, state officials said Friday.

Vaccination site in Riverside,CA.
Nurse Susan Eyman gives Robert Nelson,81, of Riverside an information card after he received the Moderna vaccine in the parking lot of the Riverside Convention Center on February 1, 2021 in Riverside, California. Currently, this site is capable of giving 500 vaccinations a day in one of the regions hardest hit by the pandemic. Only residents 65 and older and educators are eligible for the vaccination here.(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

The digital vaccine record from the state's immunization registry systems can be obtained here, the California Department of Public Health and California Department of Technology announced in a joint news release.

To obtain the digital copy, people simply enter in their name, date of birth and the email or cell phone number associated with their vaccine record.

After creating a four-digit pin, they will receive a link to their vaccine record they can access at anytime with the pin. The link provides the same information that is on the paper vaccine card, but also includes a QR code that can be read by a QR scanner, the state said.

"While CDPH recommends that vaccinated Californians keep their paper CDC card in a safe and secure place, we recognize that some people might prefer an electronic version," California State Epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said in a statement. "And if one of the state's nearly 20 million vaccinated Californians misplaces their paper card, the Digital COVID-19 Vaccine Record provides a convenient backup."

In a news conference Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom emphasized that the card will not serve as a so-called vaccine passport.

"We'll be doing something that provides you the opportunity -- and we'll announce this later this week -- to have an electronic version of your paper version of your vaccinations, not a passport, not a requirement, it's just the ability now to have an electronic version of that paper version," Newsom said in a news conference Monday. "You'll hear more about that in the next couple of days."

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