State launches digital COVID-19 vaccine records to be used in lieu of paper cards

Vaccinated state residents can now access their vaccine record digitally through a tool introduced Friday by the state’s Department of Public Health and Department of Technology.

The digital record can be accessed at myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov and requires residents to input their name, date of birth, phone number or email address and a four-digit PIN.

Users will then receive a link to their digital record, which has the same information as the physical Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccination record card given out when people receive their shots, as well as a QR code that can be scanned to show the same information.

Officials with the two departments stressed that the digital record would not be used as a so-called vaccine passport and is an alternative way for vaccinated residents to confirm their status when entering a business or event.

“More than 22 million Californians are now at least partially vaccinated, with nearly 20 million fully vaccinated,” state epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said Friday in a briefing on the tool.

“The odds are someone is going to misplace their paper CDC card and the digital COVID-19 vaccine record provides a convenient backup,” Pan said.

The CDT’s Office of Enterprise Technology designed the tool in-house, according to the office’s Deputy Director Rick Klau.

Klau also noted that QR code readers will only be able to see the information present on the digital vaccine card and will not be able to store that information.

“They will see as if they were looking at the CDC card but it does not permit the creation of a copy of that information for storage,” Klau said.

The state also has no plans to launch its own mobile app that would verify vaccine record QR codes, Klau said, although state officials are in talks about the possibility of a trusted QR code verification system that is compliant with the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, which oversees the security of credit and debit cards.

Vaccinated people who need to correct or update their vaccination record can do so at cdph.ca.gov/covidvaccinerecord or contact the state’s COVID-19 hotline at 833-422-4255.