I *had* someone who kept track of my childhood shots. She died last year. - ThreadSky

monkeyminion.com • 1 day ago

I *had* someone who kept track of my childhood shots.

She died last year.

every new thing I hear abt American healthcare hits me like a tidal wave bc what do you MEAN you don't have something to keep track of your shots????

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monkeyminion.com•1 day ago

I don't bring this up for sympathy. It's more a commentary on the fact that we don't have an institutional place to keep these records. If you aren't privileged enough to have one PCP your whole childhood and one more for your adulthood, you may have a lot of different records from different drs.

monkeyminion.com•1 day ago

If you don't have insurance, or your insurance provider changes, there's no guarantee that those records will be moved to a new doctor. So, you gotta hope that someone has a copy of those in their house. My mom kept it all in her head bc we lost so much paper when one place we lived flooded.

monkeyminion.com•1 day ago

I haven't been to a doctor in *a while,* so other than vaccines, I don't have any medical records newer than... 17 years(?), I think. A lot of Americans are in a similar boat bc our healthcare system is fucking garbage.

acverg.bsky.social•1 day ago

so sorry about your mom, man )))): but yeah, your story is exactly the kind of thing that could be avoided by giving people a vaccination card or something of the kind that they can keep! it's crazy to me that something so simple doesn't exist *for free* in america

andrewhickey.500songs.com•1 day ago

To be fair, it's not just Americans. My doctor has no records of what shots I've had either

heauxoftaste.bsky.social•1 day ago

Sorry, I'm not sure where you are, but I do know you can request your vaccination history usually from your local department of health office - at least that's the case for Florida. It's trickier if you were born before ~1984, pre-transition to electronic health records & better record keeping.

monkeyminion.com•1 day ago

I am older than that. We moved a lot when I was a kid, so I'd have to try to contact the DOH in 8 (i think?) states.

heauxoftaste.bsky.social•1 day ago

You wouldn't, that information was congregated in the past across multiple states since it was considered too vital. Really, age would be the biggest factor, but even my mom's records were maintained and she's in her early 60s.

heauxoftaste.bsky.social•1 day ago

I should probably add this: I was a Health Information Management major before I got too disgusted with how the medical field is managed. So...I guess this is kinda like insider info lol.

heauxoftaste.bsky.social•1 day ago

While I'd def be worried concerning tracking more recent vaccinations, especially if the facility you got vaccinated at just isn't on top of their record keeping, the Department of Health has records of this since you genuinely couldn't go to certain colleges or enter certain fields without them.

heauxoftaste.bsky.social•1 day ago

This all gonna be harder to get with the leadership we have rn though, especially as time goes on, but they SHOULD still be available currently.

katinadavis.bsky.social•1 day ago

I asked my PCP if there were any vaccines I should get ahead of this administration taking over, and all they told me was that I was due for flu and covid vaccines, which I had already received a few weeks prior 🙃

monkeyminion.com•1 day ago

That's... helpful. :\

Meanwhile, I went to the walgreens pharmacy and asked and they were like "do you remember the last time you had an MMR or TDAP?" and "I was like I am 30 or 40 years old, of course I don't" and they said you're probably due. lol

katinadavis.bsky.social•1 day ago

Yeah, I'm about in that same boat. I think I might have to ask my friendly local Costco pharmacist.

dmisemer.bsky.social•1 day ago

I'm sorry man.

monkeyminion.com•1 day ago

thanks.

houseofdarkly.bsky.social•1 day ago

I tried to find my old records, but they seem to be missing. Some were likely on paper, and I doubt KY kept them; or my doctors in other states. I had to get titers of my own accord, but it didn't cover everything, and I'm still worried since it's been so long on some.

toryfranklin.bsky.social•1 day ago

And if you loose them and your gen x or older they may not have the records at the state. I had to get all my childhood ones in grad school because my house burned up a week after I was accepted to undergrad (luckily they already had that paperwork but I couldn’t get that to transfer w/ transcripts)

toryfranklin.bsky.social•1 day ago

Although I am glad now that my MMR is only 20 years old going into our new lovely measles is a thing again era (side eyeing the state said burnt house was in for making THAT reboot happen…)

marcuskisses.bsky.social•1 day ago

My condolences on your loss.

Assuming access--
Many modern EMRs sync w/ state digital vax records (for now). Request your provider office input known dates.

Some jobs pay for titers in hiring process. Save a copy of results! Also have it scanned into your EMR.

pleiadesprintlab.bsky.social•18 hours ago

Some states have vaccine registries where you can request your records. California has been doing this since the 90s. As for what vaccines to get ask your pharmacist.

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