How to find your vaccine history
When you or your children are starting at a new school or job, you might need to show that you’ve received the necessary vaccines. But pulling together vaccine records for you or a family member can be challenging. This guide to finding your records might help.
You can also learn what vaccines you need and how to schedule them at M Health Fairview locations.
You got your vaccines at M Health Fairview
You’re in luck if you got your vaccines at M Health Fairview: your history might be available in Fairview MyChart. Sign into your account or the app. Under Health History Dashboard, select Health Summary. From there, select Immunizations. MyChart can even pull in records from vaccines you received at other locations, such as a pharmacy.
You got your vaccines in Minnesota
If you’ve gotten vaccines in Minnesota since 2002, you can request a copy of your immunization record from the Minnesota Department of Health or use an app called Docket that shows your vaccine history and what you’re due for.
You got your vaccines in another state
The state where you got your vaccines might have your records. Find your state’s immunization record request.
You’ve had to submit your vaccine record before
Chances are that you or your parents submitted your immunization records to your school. Check with your childhood school district or university to see if they still have a record. The information might also be with an application, such as for higher education, a job, or a travel visa.
You served in the military
If you served in the United States Armed Forces, you may be able to access your immunization records through Tricare.
You’re of a certain age
If you turned 18 before the year 2000, there’s a good chance your immunizations records were handwritten on a card. If you can track that down, many institutions will accept it as proof of vaccination.
Still no luck?
If you are at a loss for how to find your vaccination records, check with your primary care provider for next steps. They can discuss whether it’s worth getting an antibody titer test, which is a blood test that checks for presence of antibodies. This can indicate whether you have immunity to a particular disease due to previous vaccinations or infections.
Keep in mind that health insurance might not pay for this test. If you don’t show immunity to a particular disease, your provider might recommend you get the vaccine again. It might be easier and cheaper to just get the vaccine again.
“Vaccines are usually covered by insurance – especially for children – while titer testing can be very expensive,” said Lara Al-Ejeilat, MD, a pediatrician with M Health Fairview. "The American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC both say that it is safe with very minimal risks to re-vaccinate. As a pediatrician, I would rather spare the kid a poke. I would rather just do an extra dose of vaccine than do a poke for titers and another poke for a vaccine if the titer is negative.”
The same logic can be applied to adults. Steve Robinson, MD, a family medicine doctor with M Health Fairview, said lack of documentation comes up most with hepatitis B and shingles vaccinations.
“There is no clinical harm in repeating a vaccine series for hepatitis B,” Robinson said. But testing for titers might spare the patient from repeating the vaccination series, which requires three visits for the three doses.
For shingles, there is no need to check antibodies to ensure that you have had varicella, the virus that causes chicken pox, before starting the two-dose series that is recommended for nearly all adults aged 50 and older.
Why vaccinate?
Immunizations prevent tens of thousands of deaths, millions of cases of disease, and save billions of dollars per decade, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Immunizations are a safe, effective way to protect against some diseases, including some cancers. They could also prevent a future pandemic.
