How important is a discrepancy between CDC card and state vax record?

August 13, 2021 4:02 PM

I noticed that my state's (MD) official record of COVID vaccination shows one of the lot numbers as different from my CDC card, though the other one matches. Is this important, and how could I fix it if it is?

Specific questions: (a) Is this discrepancy something that would be expected for some obscure reason? It'd be nice if the answer were yes, but that seems unlikely to me. If it's an error I'm guessing this is a data entry issue, since the info on my CDC card is sticker based with the stickers placed on my card by the people giving the shot, and so there shouldn't be a lot of room for mistakes there. I realize this is all evolving, but if it's an error: (b) does anyone have any idea how important it is or is going to be that this sort of record be correct? And: (c) does anyone have any idea how I'd go about getting a medical record like this corrected if necessary?

The shots were administered via a state mass vax site run by a local medical system (UMMS), and the lot numbers they show in their portal match the ones on my state certificate, not the CDC card. So possibly they would be the ones to follow up with if this does need to be fixed? I'm really not sure how to go about this at all.

posted by advil to Health & Fitness (3 answers total)

Each state has their own vaccine registration system, there’s no federal one, so you’d want to follow up with the state.

This will basically only ever come up if there was found to be a problem with that batch (like they found out a freezer was turned off and on and the vaccine wasn’t held at the proper temperature.) So good to get fixed, and if you can get the right person on the phone, probably easy enough to get fixed.

I’m not sure how the Maryland system works but it may be possible for someone from your local doctors office or pharmacy to fix it and potentially low lift rather than calling into the state, but they also might not be able to help, hard to say.
posted by raccoon409 at 4:15 PM on August 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

I'd get it corrected. It's a remote possibility, but if your card in hand varies from the "official" record, it leaves you open to the suggestion that your card is forged.
posted by SPrintF at 4:26 PM on August 13, 2021

Suggest starting with your doc to see if they'll update it for you, then whereever you got the shot (if not your doc), and then calling MDs "immunization registry program". Most states have a cutsey acronym for theirs, but the general name for their software and what it does is immunization registry.
posted by esoteric things at 4:42 PM on August 13, 2021 [1 favorite]