As the United States is close to herd immunity and reopened after the epidemic, it may be necessary to keep your COVID-19 vaccination card at all times to obtain locations and events that may be infected with the coronavirus. You may not want to lose your card, so it is wise to load a copy on your smartphone for easy access.
Why You Might Need Your COVID-19 Vaccine Card
While there are no nationwide laws that require you to keep your CDC-issued COVID-19 vaccination record card, some cities, events, businesses, and travel methods will require proof of immunization.
For example, New York requires you to show proof that you received your shots to get into sporting venues, concert halls and arenas, and even some businesses. Plus, many countries allow only fully vaccinated Americans in, while the Royal Caribbean cruise line requires proof of COVID-19 inoculation to travel if you meet the age requirements. And it may not stop there.
Digitize Your COVID-19 Vaccine Card on iPhone
There are several ways to scan your COVID-19 vaccine card on your iPhone, but the fastest and easiest way is to use the Notes app. First, long-press the Notes icon on the home screen, application library, or control center, and then select “Scan Document” from “Quick Actions”. This will turn on the camera to start a new scan.
Place your COVID-19 vaccine card on a flat surface, point the camera directly at the card from the top, and wait for it to scan the document. The camera will detect the edge of the card with a yellow overlay and then crop it for you.
Before scanning, you can enable or change the scanning processing method of the flash (color, zoom, black and white, photo).
When you see a small preview of the PDF on the left, you will know that the card has been scanned. If you do not do this automatically, you can also press the shutter button to scan. If you want to scan the back of the card (which contains information about most vaccines and side effects), you can do the same, but the front should be sufficient.
Before you save the PDF, tap on the preview in the bottom left to check the scan. Although it may not be necessary, sometimes the scanning feature doesn’t perfectly crop the document, but you can fix it manually.
If that’s the case, tap the crop button in the toolbar, press down on any of the four corners, and move it around as needed. A magnifying icon will appear to make it easier for you to crop. Hit “Done” when finished. The only other thing you might want to change is the color of the scan, which offers the same options available when scanning.
If you are not satisfied with the image, you can take another shot, but if you are satisfied, click “Finish” to continue, and then click “Save”. The newly scanned COVID vaccination card will be saved in the new instructions in PDF format.
To view, edit, and share the PDF, tap on it in the note. At the top, you might see a name already for your document if the camera detects one during the scan. At the bottom, you’ll see options to add more scans to the document, crop it, change the color, and more.
If you want to share the PDF, tap on the share icon in the top right to bring up the share sheet. You can then copy the PDF to your clipboard, send it via text, attach it to an email, or even use AirDrop to send it to your computer quickly.
To quickly access the digital COVID-19 immunization card, add the Notes widget to the “Today” view, which you can access from the lock screen. Then, make sure to select the folder containing the scan to display in the widget.
In addition to the memo, you can also use the “File” application to scan the vaccine card. This process is similar to this process, except that the PDF file is saved instead of the memo. If you store the document in a file, this may be the preferred method. The file also has widgets available.
