Health Officials Join Warning Against Laminating Vaccine Cards
Last week, we told you that Staples and Office Depot are offering free lamination for your COVID-19 vaccination card. Right after that, news began to spread that the phony vaccination card business is booming. There's a connection, and medical professionals are not happy about it.
It's pretty obvious why medical professionals would have a problem with the phony vaccination cards. Why should you get the vaccination when you've got a fake document that will open the doors for wherever you wish to go? If other states begin to follow New York State's lead and begin demanding you show proof of vaccination before getting on a plane, visiting a school, stopping by to see a friend or family member in the hospital, going to a movie or stage show, or any number of other things, look for the fake card market to get even bigger.
But why would health care pros care about whether you get your legitimate vaccination card laminated? I mean, it's a real card with real information, so why not make an attempt to protect it, especially if you're going to be needing to provide it at sometime in the future?
The answer is that they don't necessarily have a problem with the idea of protecting your vaccination card from wear and tear. It's just that the lamination process may just cause some problems with your vaccination card's legibility. Since people began getting their cards laminated, there have been all sorts of reports saying the process can wipe out the card's ink, which destroys the valuable information on the card.
“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,” said Tom Iovino, the public information officer for the Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County. “So what happens is if you put them through a thermal laminator, they will be completely black and illegible.”
The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that instead of going for lamination of your card, an easier and more effective move would be simply to take a photo of both sides of the card in case it's damaged or lost. If you've lost your card, click here for details on what you should do next.
LOOK: Answers to 30 common COVID-19 vaccine questions
While much is still unknown about the coronavirus and the future, what is known is that the currently available vaccines have gone through all three trial phases and are safe and effective. It will be necessary for as many Americans as possible to be vaccinated in order to finally return to some level of pre-pandemic normalcy, and hopefully these 30 answers provided here will help readers get vaccinated as soon they are able.