How to Get Medical Shot Records

There is no national organization that saves personal immunization information. Therefore, it can be very difficult to keep track of which shots you or your child have already received. To prevent problems with unknown immunizations, make sure to carefully keep a record of immunizations and bring them to each doctor's appointment and other immunization appointment. However, if you have not done this, there are several steps you can take to try to piece together your immunization history.

Instructions

• 1

  Ask all of your previous health care providers for your immunization records. Do not forget to check with your local clinic, if applicable.

• 2

  Call your old schools and employers, including the military. Often they will have kept records of immunizations that were required for enrollment or employment. Students may also have received some of their immunizations in school.

• 3

  Ask your parents if they ever kept an immunization record. Look through old papers or other items, such as baby books, to see if your parents may have tucked away the record without realizing it.

• 4

  There are very few locations that keep immunization records in a central immunization registry. To find out if a record for you exists, contact the immunization coordinator in each of the states that you have lived. For coordinator contact information, go to www.immunize.org/coordinators.

• 5

  Document all vaccination information you find. Make sure to include the name of the vaccine, the date it was received and the name of the provider or clinic.