Vaccination card accidentally ends up in the washing machine: where can I get a new copy? -Panorama

– The vaccination pass is currently indispensable in many situations in life. Really clumsy when the yellow booklet suddenly ends up in the washing machine and is then unusable. This is what happened to a user on Twitter.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re going to a restaurant, shopping in a store or doing sports: anyone who wants to take part in large parts of social life currently needs proof of their vaccination status. Many people use digital solutions for this, such as the CovPass app or the Corona warning app.

Not so a Twitter user from Hanover, who kept his yellow paper booklet in the back pocket of his jeans and then washed them in the washing machine together with the vaccination card. That made for hilarious reactions online, as well as worried questions from the user’s mother: “Have you saved vaccination information on your cell phone? Then please don’t wash it too.”

I washed my vaccination card with it. pic.twitter.com/LIOaGdORcF

— Gildeon (@GIIDE0N) January 11, 2022

But where can you get a new vaccination card? And what happens to vaccinations that have already been administered that were previously only noted in the booklet?

Vaccination card lost or destroyed: Here is a new copy

1. General Practitioner

If you have had your vaccination carried out by your family doctor, this should be the first point of contact. The advantage here is that information on previous vaccinations can be obtained from medical records, which practices must keep for at least ten years. Doctors can add their corona vaccination, but also immunizations from a long time ago, and issue a new passport free of charge.

2. Vaccination Center

Many citizens received their vaccination in one of the numerous public vaccination centers. They also have a sufficient supply of freshly printed passports. The issue is free of charge and upon presentation of the identity card and the electronic health card of your health insurance company.

3. Pharmacies

Pharmacies play a key role in fighting the pandemic: supplying and conducting self-tests, issuing vaccination certificates and supplying protective masks. Of course, you can get a new copy from your trusted pharmacy if you lose your passport.

Vaccination no longer documented – just refresh?

In addition to the corona vaccination, there are of course other vaccinations that are administered over the course of life, such as tetanus or diphtheria. Many of these take place in childhood and are several years old.

If the vaccination status against a certain disease can no longer be found out, the immunization should be repeated.

according to dr Britta Reckendrees, vaccination expert at the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA), applies: “What is not documented should be interpreted as not having been carried out.” In such cases, the STIKO advises simply catching up on the recommended vaccinations in order to protect the patient as best as possible. Vaccinations can be repeated almost any number of times without there being any major risk.

For example, adults should refresh their vaccinations against tetanus and diphtheria every ten years anyway, according to the Standing Vaccination Committee (STIKO) from the Robert Koch Institute. From the age of sixty, the experts also recommend pneumococcal vaccination and an annual vaccination against influenza.

So maybe just see the loss of your passport as an opportunity to do one or two much-needed refresher courses. Ideally, however, vaccinations should of course be carried out as recommended – and documented so that they can be reliably traced. So that you don’t feel like the Twitter user.

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