Information for Parents and Community Members

Don’t know where you or your child’s immunization records are?

If your health care provider is using and has entered your or your child’s record in the San Diego Regional Immunization Registry (SDIR), then you should first call the clinic and request a copy of the record. If you don’t know which clinic you or your child last went to receive immunizations, then you can call the SDIR and find out if the record is in the system. If the record is found in the registry, the SDIR Help Desk staff will send you via email, fax or US mail, a request form to fill out and return along with a legible copy of a current identification with photo.

What is the San Diego Regional Immunization Registry?
The Registry is an internet-based immunization information system, which is available at no-cost to health care providers, schools, child care providers and other programs which require the review of immunization records for enrollment. The more health care providers that enter their patients’ immunization records into the registry, the more likely people will be able to find their records there, in the event that they can’t find their immunization record and need to show proof of immunizations.

Why is that important?
Babies need a full series of shots by the time they are 2 years old, and will receive a total of 18-22 shots by their sixth birthday. They will need more shots throughout their lives and as new vaccines are developed. These shots are important. They help protect your child from serious illnesses like measles, polio, hepatitis, whooping cough and meningitis. Besides young children, all individuals need to get boosters or new immunizations, like the flu shot, throughout their lifetime. Having an immunization record in the registry can help keep track of these vaccines especially when you change health care providers, or in the event of a natural disaster or vaccine-preventable epidemic.

How can the Registry help me?
The Registry

• Keep a record of all of the vaccines your family members have had in one place.
• Helps your doctor remind you when family members need more shots to stay protected.
• Helps your doctor remind you when family members need more shots to stay protected.
• Provides a replacement record if any of your family members’ yellow California Immunization Record is lost, so that vaccines won’t have to be given again.
• Offers a safe way to prove that members of your family have all the shots they need for school, child care and college entry in the future, no matter where they were given.

Are all doctors connected to the Registry? What about public health clinics and Family Service Centers?
Currently, more than 165 public and private health care providers, schools, child care providers and community services agencies such as the Women, Infants and Children Nutritional program (WIC) are using the registry in San Diego County. The County’s Immunization Branch continually recruits new health care providers to join the registry, so the number of users is constantly growing.

Do I have to pay for my child's shot record to be in the Registry?
No. There is no fee to have your family members’ immunization records in the SDIR. The Registry is a service of the Immunization Branch of the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency and is supported by funds from the State Department of Public Health and the federal Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC).

What can I do to make sure that my family members are in this system?
Ask your doctor or clinic if they are members of San Diego's Regional Immunization Registry, or call (619) 692-5656. Your child’s record will be entered into the Registry when he or she is seen by a participating provider when shots are needed. As authorized by the California Health and Safety Code 120440, the San Diego Regional Immunization Registry is an "opt out" program. What this means is that when you or your child receive vaccines from a participating health care provider, you will be told that your record of the immunizations will be entered into the Registry. You have the choice to share the immunization record with other providers using the registry.

What if I don't want my or my child’s immunization information shared with other providers using the registry?
If you do not want your immunization records to be entered in the Registry and/or shared by participating providers, you may sign a sharing refusal form, called a "STOP/START SHARING REQUEST." You can also sign this form if you do not want to get reminder cards when your child needs another shot. Your doctor can give you a San Diego Regional Immunization Registry STOP/START form. Please note that you can change your mind at any time and request to have the record opened for sharing. You will need to visit a provider using the registry and sign the "STOP/START SHARING REQUEST."

What do I do if I move out of San Diego County or out of California and need a copy of my or my child’s immunization record?
You can contact by phone: (619) 692-5656 or email the SDIR Help Desk at sdir@immunization-sd.org with your request. The Help Desk will verify if the immunization record is in the registry and work with you to get you the records you need.

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