PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla (WFLA) – The Department of Health in Pinellas County is alerting residents to not laminate their COVID-19 vaccine card. This comes after health officials received multiple calls of vaccine cards being illegible after the laminating process.
“In some locations, a label is placed on the card that talks about the vaccine brand and lot number and those have been printed on thermal printer labels. So what happens is if you put them through a thermal laminator, they will be completely black and illegible,” said Tom Iovino, the public information officer for the Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County.
Department of Health officials are recommending other ways to keep your vaccine card safe.
“Make some photocopies just so you have one if you do need to present it someplace or take a photo of it and keep it on your phone. That way you can keep the original safe and carry around a copy of it if you need it,” added Iovino.
And for those who already have experienced this problem after laminating their vaccine card, there are options for you to get your vaccine information.
“If you went through the PatientPortalFL website you can go and take a look at your record that you did receive the vaccine. Also if you talk to your doctor, it will reflect in the Florida shots database and your doctor can access that for you,” Iovino said.
As the age requirement for the vaccine lowers on Monday, DOH-Pinellas County tells 8 On Your Side it is critical they make people aware before their get their card.
