Health care providers are required by law to record certain information in a patient’s medical record. This record can be in electronic or paper form. Health care providers who administer vaccines covered by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act are required to ensure that the permanent medical record of the recipient indicates:
Always provide a personal vaccination record to the patient or parent that includes the names of vaccines administered and the dates of administration. Because personal vaccination records or forms can vary between states, please contact your state or local immunization program for more details.
Immunization information systems (IISs) are confidential, computerized databases that record and consolidate information on all vaccine doses administered by participating providers. Using an immunization information system to document vaccines administered can help to keep patient vaccination records up to date and give all medical providers that care for a patient access to complete and accurate information about the patient’s immunization history. Learn more about immunization information systems and find state/territory/city IIS contacts here.
The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) is a national vaccine safety surveillance program. Health care professionals are encouraged to report any adverse events that occur after the administration of any vaccine licensed in the United States.
Adverse events should be reported even if the cause of the adverse event is uncertain.
For additional resources, please visit the vaccine administration Resource Library.
