What to do if a country does not accept your paper vaccine record

[SLSD]

In the United States, we don't have a uniform way to prove vaccination.  Some countries, according to this article, are not accepting a paper vaccine record. The article suggests other ways to prove that you have been vaccinated:  https://thepointsguy.com/news/prove-vaccination-status/?utm_source=facebook&utm_term=Editorial&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=facebook&utm_content=B7C7DF0A-FEDC-11EB-B103-9B550EDC252D&fbclid=IwAR2uesuo49nQQOzgO5XHQv-JX8Yn_tzJJhNcXSy3aRBUgxwNfmYM-EAacSc

 

[cruiseej]

We should note that although the article has a headline saying "some countries", the article only cites one: Turks & Caicos. Perhaps this issue will expand in the future, but for now, it's not an issue for 99.9% of international travelers. 

[SLSD]

9 hours ago, cruiseej said:

We should note that although the article has a headline saying "some countries", the article only cites one: Turks & Caicos. Perhaps this issue will expand in the future, but for now, it's not an issue for 99.9% of international travelers. 

Perhaps this is a measure by Turks and Caicos to prevent forged vaccine records.  Perhaps they have seen them in Turks and Caicos and are taking this measure.  I would not be at all surprised if other countries follow suit.  

Edited August 17, 2021 by SLSD

[cruiseej]

@SLSD  I'm sure it's a nightmare for clerks at entry point sin every country to have to wade through the different forms of Covid vaccination records people present. One or a few "global passport" or digital vaccination records type applications would have solved this, but of course that got embroiled in politics and each country, and in some cases, each state, wanting to set its own rules.

 

I'd love for there to be a digital record I could travel with -- but I'm very fearful if this becomes required, because I don't know if I could get one. Our vaccinations took place at a traveling FEMA-run site set up at a high school in a neighboring state where my wife works. I'm not convinced that state has a record of our vaccinations, and my home state almost certainly does not. We've received several calls from the state where we got the shots about getting our second dose, months after we got it, which leads me to believe they don't have a digital record of us getting the second shot. So my cardboard card may be my only proof available. 

[SLSD]

1 hour ago, cruiseej said:

@SLSD  I'm sure it's a nightmare for clerks at entry point sin every country to have to wade through the different forms of Covid vaccination records people present. One or a few "global passport" or digital vaccination records type applications would have solved this, but of course that got embroiled in politics and each country, and in some cases, each state, wanting to set its own rules.

 

I'd love for there to be a digital record I could travel with -- but I'm very fearful if this becomes required, because I don't know if I could get one. Our vaccinations took place at a traveling FEMA-run site set up at a high school in a neighboring state where my wife works. I'm not convinced that state has a record of our vaccinations, and my home state almost certainly does not. We've received several calls from the state where we got the shots about getting our second dose, months after we got it, which leads me to believe they don't have a digital record of us getting the second shot. So my cardboard card may be my only proof available. 

I understand your concern.  I am in Texas and have no  idea if there is a real record of our vaccine record. I am betting that the only record is local.  We have little slips of paper --a printed form.  Because the whole virus pandemic has been politicized here , it has become a nightmare.  Right now, we are in virus hell here in Texas.  I'm trying to get back to the  optimistic mindset I had maintained for well over a year.  I recently lost that.  

 

If you read the article I posted, it suggests getting your doctor to look at the record of your vaccine that you were given.  He/she could put it into  your medicalrecord and then you could get a signed copy of that.  (You'll have to read the specifics explained in the article).  

 

And now, as of this morning, we have boosters on the horizon.  According to what I heard in a press conference this morning, we would be eligible for our third vaccine shot in early October.  I wonder how long it will be before it is required that you show evidence of a booster?  

Edited August 18, 2021 by SLSD

[Covepointcruiser]

We got our vaccinations in our home state, Maryland.   We received a CDC certificate with our names/birth dates and the lot number of our Moderna vaccine.   We were called back for the second vaccine and it was added to the card.   We keep it with our passport and have used it for travel to Hawaii and to Europe.   We passed through Germany and they very, very carefully examined our vaccine cards with a magnifier.   At the time they were only accepting you if your vaccine was no older than six months.    Glad we will have the booster before we travel to Europe, hopefully in December.    The vaccine miraculously appeared in my Health Records when I visited my doctor so they must have a way to input the record into a state system.

[SLSD]

29 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

   The vaccine miraculously appeared in my Health Records when I visited my doctor so they must have a way to input the record into a state system.

You are so fortunate that your vaccine appeared in your health record.  I will ask my doctor here in Dallas when I have an appointment next week.  I'm not holding my breath as the government of the State of Texas has not been helpful with all things pertaining to the virus.  There are lawsuits pending.  It is all very sad and counterproductive.  I'm glad your vaccine was recorded.  That puts you ahead of the game for sure.  Kudos to the State of Maryland!

 

Edited August 18, 2021 by SLSD

[markham]

New York state has the Excelsior Pass Plus App which automatically displays all aspects of your vaccinations just like the CDC card so that you can use it upon demand to enter NY hospitality venues. It is fed directly by the outfit e.g. CVS that gave you the vaccines.

 

I wish this were the standard across the country. Maybe in time when certain politicians act like adults and take responsibility for that aspect of public health policy while this virus rages worldwide.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[hoosier74]

I went to the county health department and ask for a printed record and they gave me a sheet with every vaccination I have received in Indiana (as an adult).  Stamped and signed.  However we live sort of on the border with Kentucky and my primary care physician from whom I have gotten some flu vaccines as well as pneumonia, sometime a tetanus, etc.  and the university health department where we have gotten most of our travel vaccines are in Louisville.  So I'm carrying my paper CDC covid vaccine card, the sheet the health department gave me and my almost full WHO yellow card at all times.  Certainly is clunky but still smaller than my passport!  It would certainly be easier if it were a national data base.  

[greeneyedgirl58]

On 8/19/2021 at 1:02 AM, SLSD said:

You are so fortunate that your vaccine appeared in your health record.  I will ask my doctor here in Dallas when I have an appointment next week.  I'm not holding my breath as the government of the State of Texas has not been helpful with all things pertaining to the virus.  There are lawsuits pending.  It is all very sad and counterproductive.  I'm glad your vaccine was recorded.  That puts you ahead of the game for sure.  Kudos to the State of Maryland!

 

I am in Dallas area also. Had shots at UTSW, and they automatically shared record of vaccine with my doc in Baylor Health System. Maybe yours will have too.

[Catlover54]

On 8/18/2021 at 3:02 PM, SLSD said:

You are so fortunate that your vaccine appeared in your health record.  I will ask my doctor here in Dallas when I have an appointment next week.  I'm not holding my breath as the government of the State of Texas has not been helpful with all things pertaining to the virus.  There are lawsuits pending.  It is all very sad and counterproductive.  I'm glad your vaccine was recorded.  That puts you ahead of the game for sure.  Kudos to the State of Maryland!

 

My state of California supposedly has been as "helpful" as they could be with all things pertaining to the virus and has politics diametrically opposed to Texas.  However, neither DH nor I have been able to get the electronic vaccine tracking system referenced in the pointsguy article to acknowledge we were vaccinated (we have been trying to get it electronically acknowledged for a couple months now, since the system started up, as we can read the writing on the walls with Covid passport requirements popping up everwhere).  We are not part of a mega-health care system, as our primary doctor is an independent. So we were double vaccinated in a small rural community clinic near our second home, and have our cards.  Our little clinic claims they sent a report to the state, and I believe them.  But the state electronically tells us they have nothing, and no one on the latter end on the phone after a long hold seems interested in sorting out what happened because they are "busy", so that is that at least until we see if the boosters are handled better.  The bureaucracy presumably misplaced the data.  We know multiple people in CA who are unable to get electronic verification.

 

We used our paper cards for a recent cruise to Iceland without problem.  If electronically verifiable mega-data will be required to go to a country, I guess we won't be going to them.

 

Note paper letters by doctors who claim to have seen your card and put it into your medical record could be even more easily forged than the little piece of paper you get. There are plenty of phony doctor letters out there for other things, so why no Covid?  All you need is fancy letterhead to look real to a border clerk or someone processing electronic uploads. Unless the lot number of the vaccine claimed is tied into a central database easily accessible and subscribed to  around the world, like with regular national passports, some fraud will continue (though not likely with luxury cruisers who are generally organized and by-the-book rules followers).

[RetiredandTravel]

When I received my Covid jab they asked my healthcare provider and sent the information to them.  So I have the CDC card, record from the pharmacy giving the jab  and record from my healthcare provider.   I'll take them all when I travel.

 

It would have been nice if someone at least thought of an official stamp in your passport once you completed vaccination.  Sure to have a national database and vax card would be great but that would take some planning.  Its become painfully obvious that planning isn't the US Governments strong suit.

 

 

 

 

[jsiegel]

On 8/20/2021 at 10:21 AM, Catlover54 said:

My state of California supposedly has been as "helpful" as they could be with all things pertaining to the virus and has politics diametrically opposed to Texas.  However, neither DH nor I have been able to get the electronic vaccine tracking system referenced in the pointsguy article to acknowledge we were vaccinated (we have been trying to get it electronically acknowledged for a couple months now, since the system started up, as we can read the writing on the walls with Covid passport requirements popping up everwhere).  We are not part of a mega-health care system, as our primary doctor is an independent. So we were double vaccinated in a small rural community clinic near our second home, and have our cards.  Our little clinic claims they sent a report to the state, and I believe them.  But the state electronically tells us they have nothing, and no one on the latter end on the phone after a long hold seems interested in sorting out what happened because they are "busy", so that is that at least until we see if the boosters are handled better.  The bureaucracy presumably misplaced the data.  We know multiple people in CA who are unable to get electronic verification.

 

We used our paper cards for a recent cruise to Iceland without problem.  If electronically verifiable mega-data will be required to go to a country, I guess we won't be going to them.

 

Note paper letters by doctors who claim to have seen your card and put it into your medical record could be even more easily forged than the little piece of paper you get. There are plenty of phony doctor letters out there for other things, so why no Covid?  All you need is fancy letterhead to look real to a border clerk or someone processing electronic uploads. Unless the lot number of the vaccine claimed is tied into a central database easily accessible and subscribed to  around the world, like with regular national passports, some fraud will continue (though not likely with luxury cruisers who are generally organized and by-the-book rules followers).

My vaccination record also did not appear in the California state-wide database.  I kept checking for a couple of months.  Each time the instructions on what to do if it wasn't there changed.  One time it gave an email address to send a picture of my driver's license and vaccination card.  A few weeks later it still wasn't in the system so I resent it.  Still no change, but in the meantime they changed the trouble reporting yet again and this time there was a "chat" form to fill out where you could upload your CDL and vaccine card.  Just a few days after I did that I was finally in the system (August 10th). 

 

Jackie

[Neverlookback]

Not sure if this is reassuring or not, but when traveling to Greece and then back to the US in August airport reviews of the vaccination/covid test information was cursory at best.  They are basically "checking a box" to see that you have documentation.  This was the same at both Newark and Athens airports.  No one has the time to read the details of your documentation and they are not looking for counterfeits like you might see with a drivers license in the US.  I would honestly not sweat this detail and would feel confident being vaccinated and having the normal CDC card.

[cruiseej]

@Neverlookback As I wrote near the top of this thread, there is no cause for concern about the paper record of Covid vaccinations currently. But this thread was started because one country said they would only accept electronic records, not paper forms -- so if that practice were to be adopted by other countries,  it could become a headache for those of us who don't have an electronic record. But, to be clear, today this is a non-issue. (Unless you're traveling to Turks & Caicos.)

[sfvoyage]

2 hours ago, cruiseej said:

@Neverlookback As I wrote near the top of this thread, there is no cause for concern about the paper record of Covid vaccinations currently. But this thread was started because one country said they would only accept electronic records, not paper forms -- so if that practice were to be adopted by other countries,  it could become a headache for those of us who don't have an electronic record. But, to be clear, today this is a non-issue. (Unless you're traveling to Turks & Caicos.)

 

+1.  There is so much else to worry about nowadays that speculative threads like this one are neither productive nor helpful, other than unnecessarily stirring up more stress and premature and unwarranted discourse and further conjectures.  Perhaps there may be a need for a thread like this one, if and when the speculation becomes more imminent or likely, but hopefully not in the near future.

[RetiredandTravel]

45 minutes ago, sfvoyage said:

 

+1.  There is so much else to worry about nowadays that speculative threads like this one are neither productive nor helpful, other than unnecessarily stirring up more stress and premature and unwarranted discourse and further conjectures.  Perhaps there may be a need for a thread like this one, if and when the speculation becomes more imminent or likely, but hopefully not in the near future.

 

I couldn't disagree more.  There is nothing speculative about the thread origin.  It's more important than ever right now to understand what procedures countries are implementing and how to be prepared for them.  In my case I'll be sure to take the official looking typed document from my health care provider in addition to the handwritten CDC card.  Not a big deal.  The thread isn't scaring me from travelling just making me more prepared at minimal effort.

[sfvoyage]

28 minutes ago, RetiredandTravel said:

The thread isn't scaring me from travelling just making me more prepared at minimal effort.

Good for you!

[RetiredandTravel]

 

 

23 minutes ago, sfvoyage said:

Good for you!

 

Great someone disagrees with you so you disparage them.

Edited August 22, 2021 by RetiredandTravel
spelling

[cruiseej]

29 minutes ago, RetiredandTravel said:

 

I couldn't disagree more.  There is nothing speculative about the thread origin.

 

Well, it is -- it's a bit of a click-bait headline. Only one very small country has implemented such a change. Maybe others will in the future, or maybe they won't.

 

30 minutes ago, RetiredandTravel said:

In my case I'll be sure to take the official looking typed document from my health care provider in addition to the handwritten CDC card.  Not a big deal.

 

But the point here is that your fancy typed official document would not be accepted in Turks & Caicos! The article is about how they are requiring electronic documentation to avoid having to judge the authenticity of paper documents. 

[SLSD]

On 8/20/2021 at 8:59 AM, greeneyedgirl58 said:

I am in Dallas area also. Had shots at UTSW, and they automatically shared record of vaccine with my doc in Baylor Health System. Maybe yours will have too.

While I live in Dallas and my husband was vaccinated at UTSW, I did not qualify to be vaccinated there.  I had not been a patient there in the last five years--which was the qualification.  In January and February, vaccinations were hard to come by in Dallas, so I opted to be vaccinated close to our farm, in a rural area 85 miles away.  I'm sure I can get the vaccination record onto my medical record, it will just take making that happen  For my booster, I will qualify at UT Southwestern I hope as I have been seen there by a doctor in the last few months. 

 

Edited August 22, 2021 by SLSD

[sfvoyage]

35 minutes ago, RetiredandTravel said:

 

 

 

Great someone disagrees with you so you disparage them.

 

No, I was not disparaging you.  I was saying good for you if you can feel more prepared with minimum effort.

 

I don't mean any disrespect, but I for one would not feel more prepared.  The US has no national electronic vaccination program, and the code I get from the state of California may not be acceptable by other countries, so there is little, if anything, I can do.   There is nothing actionable for me at this point.

 

Things are changing by the day and by the country.  I cannot worry about what may or may not transpire in the future.  So again, good for you for feeling better by doing whatever you need to do!

Edited August 22, 2021 by sfvoyage

[RetiredandTravel]

Perhaps the headline could have been written better.  Thank you for addressing the issues and not attacking me personally.

 

We've been to Turks & Caicos several times, beautiful beaches, resorts & restaurants.

 

Thanks to the thread I now know how to get through immigration there or any other country that may adapt the same policy.  

 

 

"People who received a COVID-19 vaccine at a national drugstore may have more luck accessing a digital, verified vaccination record than a person who got inoculated at a drive-up vaccine clinic.

For instance, people vaccinated at Walmart can link their vaccination results to Clear Health Pass. Walmart also partners with the Commons Project’s CommonPass vaccine passport.

People vaccinated at CVS have a record of the vaccine received and the date administered, which they can access through the app or online. Vaccine records can also be printed or emailed. "

 

Given T&C are so dependent on US visitors I'm surprised they have this policy.

[SLSD]

10 minutes ago, SLSD said:

 

 

2 hours ago, sfvoyage said:

 

+1.  There is so much else to worry about nowadays that speculative threads like this one are neither productive nor helpful, other than unnecessarily stirring up more stress and premature and unwarranted discourse and further conjectures.  Perhaps there may be a need for a thread like this one, if and when the speculation becomes more imminent or likely, but hopefully not in the near future.

I did not post this as a speculative thread, but just as a heads up about what might come next.  I am the kind of person who  does not like to be caught flat footed.  Those of us who post here are from all over the world, but some of us are from the United States--which doesn't to have a uniform reporting of vaccine records.  Even my husband and I were vaccinated almost 100 miles apart and in vastly different settings.  While his vaccine is already part of his permanent medical record, mine is not as I was vaccinated in a rural area and no one asked who my regular doctor was or where I usually seek medical care.  That's ok.  Thanks to the ideas given the article  I posted, I can work this out.  I would rather know ahead of time that this could be an issue, rather than be blindsided at the last moment when I was poised to travel internationally.  

Edited August 22, 2021 by SLSD

[RetiredandTravel]

Riley's Law - "Murphy was an optimist"  

 

Time to pour the wine