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Handwritten Vaccine Cards While Traveling

Good Morning All, I am wondering if anyone has a fully handwritten vaccine card, and if so if you had any issues being refused entry anywhere when traveling with it. I ask as my original card was typewritten and they attached the labels with the vax name, lot #, etc for each shot then wrote in just the location where I received the shots. However, they misspelled my FIRST name. Everything I read states the card needs to exactly match your passport (which makes sense). I contacted my Board of Health (after contacting the State and being referred to my local BOH). They sent me a replacement card which is completely handwritten. They actually sent me two as on the first replacement they spelled my LAST name incorrectly, but that's another story.

I have been very hesitant even considering travel for 2022 as I feel we are going to have various restrictions and required vax proof for at least a few more years, but it is driving me crazy not even having a trip on the horizon. Since my last trip was in July 2019 (2020 trip canceled), it will make a full 3 years without a trip if I go in 2022. I would really like to feel comfortable getting something in the works.

Thank you in advance.

Joann (see-not a difficult name to spell)

Edit: to make matters worse, when I told them at the vaccine location when I went for my second shot, they crossed out the "e" with a pen, now leaving me an altered original card.

Posted by
30 posts

Hello,
I travelled to France in July and just got back from a separate Germany trip, using a fully hand-scribbled CDC card - had no issues at all...in France, only the Passport/Border control asked for the card when I entered the country. In Germany, about half of the places we went (hotels/bars/restaurants/tourist sites) asked to see the card and in most cases - they just glanced at it from a distance, certainly didn't inspect it for errors, dates or compare it to my passport

Posted by
63 posts

No issues for me with a handwritten CDC record in Italy on the Amalfi Coast in late-August, or in transit through Brussels, Naples, and Frankfurt airports.

Posted by
11569 posts

Ours are both completely hand written, given out at inoculation site at large local city hospital. I have not heard of anyone having a typed one until this post.

Posted by
8058 posts

I hand filled out most of mine by hand, the pharmacy only put the lot number and type of vaccine in.

I also filled out completely a duplicate card to have as backup.

In Italy, some have perused the card for a while, but that was mainly because it confused them for a bit until they saw the Pfizer name, but no one compared the name to the passport or started calculating dates.
My wife had one with stickers, and even some whiteout due to a mistake they made, we tossed that one and made up a new one, feeling that the alterations would be questioned before the handwritten part of it.

For what it is worth, we also carry a report from our pharmacy showing the details of the vaccinations, as back-up to the cards, but expect not to need that.

Posted by
414 posts

Thank you all so much for your timely responses with on the ground experience. It makes me feel much better about planning something for 2022!

Joann

Posted by
23626 posts

I do think you are probably over thinking this. First, there is no standardization to the vaccine card or even how info is entered. On mine I have filled out the top half myself -- name, birthday, etc. Then on the first line is a little sticker for the batch number of the vaccine and a handwritten date for administration and location. For the second shot it is one sticker for everything -- batch number, date, location and nothing handwritten. So there is really no way to tell if you have a valid card or a fake. I am guessing the fake probably look better than my card. Will live with what I have.

Posted by
414 posts

@Frank - I'm sure your are right and I am overthinking this, as it certainly wouldn't be the first time!

Thanks again for your input. As all my friends and family that I have seen had stickers like mine, so now I feel better knowing it really is a non-issue.

Happy travels!

Posted by
5697 posts

Good to hear that handwritten cards are accepted -- our medical center gave us blank cards to fill out name and birthdate, they used a rubber stamp for type of vaccine and date and hand-wrote the vaccine lot # and vaccinations initials.

Since my Medicare name doesn't include the additional married name that's on my passport I hand-wrote both on the card with "AKA" notation. Haven't had a chance to test this out yet. California also has QR code to be shown on smartphone.

Posted by
8058 posts

You can try the QR code, but in Italy, they use an app to read the code, and that gives an ok based on current records, or expiration of a test. Your California QR may give an error, or at least not be recognized

Posted by
19274 posts

I ask as my original card was typewritten

Do you really mean "typewritten", or was it printed? My vaccine card is a printed form with the actual vaccination details (including my name) hand written on the printed card.

Posted by
414 posts

Hi Lee, I just looked at my original card again and my name and birth date definitely look typed. Then they put labels with the vaccine name and lot number, preprinted, then hand wrote the date and location.

I received my shots at the elderly housing complex as my Aunt’s caregiver. My cousin who is the actual caregiver ended up receiving her vax before this occurred so they okayed me to take her place. They had all the info well ahead of time and it’s a small complex so they very well could still have a typewriter.