How to modify the birthdate on my child's vaccination card?
A month before my daughter's 12th birthday I brought her to a clinic to get her a 12+ vaccine. To do so I told them that she was born in 2008 rather than 2009. I did this because we were going to see my 80 year old mother for Thanksgiving and the waits at that time for the 5-11 vaccine were too long. Now, of course, she's got a card with an incorrect birthday on it and I'd like to 'clean it up' with the state so that her vaccination card reflects her real age (and her passport, in case we want to travel abroad again one day). Does anyone have any experience doing this or recommendations on the best way to approach it?
Jan 10, 2022
Parent Replies
I didn’t purposely provide inaccurate information for my COVID vaccine, but one of my shots never showed up in the state database for whatever reason. To fix it, I submitted a request for correction through my personal health record on My Chart under the COVID section and another through the CA Vaccine website. I don’t know what happened in the background, and I never found out what was wrong, but it was fixed within a week of my requests. No one notified me, I just logged in and checked, and it had been done.
You can try that.
Why not contact CDPH and let them know that you intentionally gave a false birthdate for your child and want to correct it. I’m assuming this is what you mean by “clean it up”?
In most parts of California, immunization history is recorded in a computer database called CAIR (California Immunization Registry). If your daughter had her childhood vaccinations in California, a CAIR id was created for her along with those first vaccinations and all her future vaccinations throughout her life would be added to that CAIR, providing a complete record that you/she can access or that health care providers can access. Because you provided a false DOB, your daughter's COVID vaccination was not added to her CAIR record but instead added to a new CAIR record with the incorrect DOB. California has a process for uploading pictures of correct vaccine cards to modify incorrect CAIR records, but because you have both, I would recommend uploading a picture of her vaccine card and also an image of her birth certificate or other official document showing the correct DOB. Hopefully that will facilitate the process to get the information in the incorrect record merged to the correct record. https://myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov/
From the CA vaccine FAQ site: https://myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov/faq
What if my digital vaccine record is incorrect?
If the information on your digital vaccine record is incorrect e.g. missing dose, wrong dates or incorrect brand), you may need to correct or update your immunization record. You can contact your provider to update your record or submit a request through the Virtual Assistant . You will be notified of our findings and remediation actions within 2-3 weeks.
We had a similar circumstance and the birth date was fixed automatically in the CA system without any request from me. When he got the second dose, I just "forgot" the card and got a new one with the correct date. If you're already passed the second vaccine, you could probably do this with a booster. Or you could just use the electronic record which may already be corrected.
I don't know about changing the year, but just a heads-up: I believe that dosage for 5-11s is different from that for 12+. You may want to consult a doctor moving forward, not just about getting the vaccine card corrected but also for guidance around boosters, etc., given the difference in dose.
Maybe bring it to your doctor and tell them that the birthdate is written wrong and ask if they can provide a new card. I would leave out the part about WHY the date is wrong. Also, FWIW would have done something similar.