No shirt, no shoes, no shots – no service? Vax cards coming
A CNN report on the Department of Defense’s aggressive plan for distributing COVID-19 vaccines included a photo of a little-known aspect: the vaccination card.
According to the report, vaccination cards are intended to be the “simplest” way to keep track of COVID-19 shots for a vaccine that requires multiple doses.
“For most COVID-19 vaccine products, two doses of vaccine, separated by 21 or 28 days, will be needed,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Second-dose reminders for vaccine recipients will be critical to ensure compliance with vaccine dosing intervals and achieve optimal vaccine effectiveness.”
Every dose administered will be reported to the CDC, said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers. And vaccination clinics will also keep a record of who got what dose, so that way you’re not getting the second dose of a vaccine before you got the first.
Not to mention that every shot will be tracked by state and local health departments, too.
In Virginia, for example, state officials said people who get the vaccine will be put into a registry. “It’s just a reminder they need to come back for a second dose. It’s going to help us know what shot you got and which one you need,” said Dr. Ryan Light with the Tidewater Physicians Multispecialty Group.
In Kentucky, Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven
Stack explained to state residents that receiving the vaccine would put them on the National Immuno Registry. “The federal government is going to provide vaccination cards that we will provide for people when they get a vaccine,” Stack said. “I don’t want to minimize this. This, and other parts of this, are just parts of what makes this a complex undertaking.”
Supporters of this approach argue it’s an efficient way to balance public health concerns with reopening the economy — for some.
Opponents fear it could lead to what Noah Rothman of Commentary Magazine calls an “Immunity Caste” system.