MOLINE, Illinois — You're fully vaccinated, and you have the card to prove it. So now what?
If you have to carry it around and potentially show it to get into events, you probably want to keep it from getting damaged.
THE QUESTION
Should you laminate your COVID-19 vaccination card?
Staples and Office Depot are at least two companies publicly offering to do it for free. So should you take that offer?
THE ANSWER
There is no harm in laminating your card. That's according to Janet Hill, the Chief Operating Officer of the Rock Island County Health Department.
WHAT WE FOUND
Right now there is no official advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention other than to keep your card safe.
The standard card has four lines. Two are filled out if you've gotten the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. That leaves two blank for "other," or what some people assume is the future entries for booster shots. Hill says she hopes boosters won't be necessary. But if they are, and your card is already laminated, you would simply get a second card to keep note of those doses.
Long-term, the card may not be your only proof of vaccination. Both Iowa and Illinois are keeping electronic back-up of this vaccine information. Plus, the federal government and the World Health Organization are working on an app.
So we can verify, yes, you can laminate your card, if that's how you choose to keep it safe.