How to Get Your Digital COVID-19 Vaccine Record on Your Phone : Mobile Vax Verify in Illinois
You may have heard about friends or relatives who have their “mobile vaccine record” available on their phone. While it depends on the state they live in, Illinois has digital vaccine records available since August of 2021. You may not have had to show proof of vaccination for COVID-19 before, but this is changing starting in 2022.
“Beginning Jan. 3, 2022, anyone age 5 and older will be required to show proof of full vaccination to dine inside or visit gyms or entertainment venues where food and drinks are being served.”
The trick is, you have to register and validate your identity in order to access this information, a step that’s worth taking with the 2022 mandate.
Confirming your identity can take more than a few minutes, but it will save you time in the future if you plan to use this record as a convenient way to show proof of vaccination depending on the current vaccine mandates. If you’ve lost your vaccine card or it’s damaged, this will give you a convenient way to access your records.
Time to register: 5-10 minutes
You may be hesitant to provide your personal information, but if you are vaccinated within the state of Illinois, you have already given the majority, if not all of the information when you registered to be vaccinated.
Who is asking for this information?
The site you are registering with is the Illinois Department of Public Health. If you have been vaccinated for the flu in the past, these records will also be listed in your file. Registering to know what personal information is available can be a valuable tool.
Who can register?
Adults 18+ can register. Access of information is to Illinois-administered vaccinations through the iCARE system, and parents can add their children’s vaccination records as well . For questions, please visit the IDPH website.
Here is our step by step registration that will help prepare you for the process and understand what information they are asking for to confirm your identity.
Save Time: You May Already Have an Account with iLogin Illinois
If you have applied for unemployment insurance benefits like thousands of others in the recent past, you likely already have an account with iLogin Illinois, which reduces your Vax Verify registration.
Try your email address to see if you already have an account with iLogin
Each account should have a unique email address, so you should be able to check if you already confirmed your identity with iLogin. It’s a state run application that is used for various Illinois government websites, using the same login information.
What Are the Steps to Register on the IDPH Website?
Enter the name and address you use with your primary care provider. Take the time to get your information correct.
Ingrese su nombre y dirección que uso con su proveedor de salud. Tome su tiempo para asegurarse de que la información este correcta.Click the link in the registration email (check your spam folder). Complete password setup process.
Haga clic en el enlace enviado por correo electrónico del registro (revise la sección de SPAM). Complete el proceso de configuración de la contraseña.Proceed by answering questions to verify your identity. See FAQs for Experian identity verification details.
Continúe respondiendo preguntas para verificar su identidad. Consulte las preguntas frecuentes para obtener detalles de la verificación de identidad de Experian.See your immunization records. Print, download, and get your COVID SMART Health card!
Vea su registro de inmunización. ¡Imprima, baje, y obtenga su tarjeta de salud SMART!
Registration
Start on the IDPH website https://idphportal.illinois.gov/ , or search “Vax Verify Illinois”. Click the button to REGISTER.
For questions about registering with iLogin, here is the registration instruction pdf (english) (espanol).
CONFIRM YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
You will be prompted to go to your email inbox and look for an email from the State of Illinois that should arrive within a few minutes of your signup. Check your spam if you do not see it in your inbox.
Once you receive the email, click on the activation button/link in the email.
Create a Password
After confirming your email address, you will then be asked in iLogin to create a password with the following criteria: At least 8 characters, does not include your first name or your username (your email address), contains an upper case letter, a lower case letter, and a symbol (ex: !@#$%^&*)
Verify Your Information + Identity
After signing up in the first step, you will be given options to verify your information by using what’s called “Multi-Factor Authentication” or MFA. This just means they ask you to confirm your telephone (voice call) or mobile number (text message), or for advanced users, an app like Google Authenticator or OKTA that requires downloading if you do not already have it.
If you’ve ever received a text with a short number (ex: 123456) to enter into a website to verify it’s you, then congratulations! You’ve already used MFA and this should be easy.
Of these four options, voice (for non-mobile users/without text messaging), and text are the simplest. If you are multi-device or frequent tech user, you may have already used OKTA or Google Authenticator app.
To login in the future, you should be prompted to use the same type of MFA (ex: text) the next time you need to access your records.
You may also be asked about a place of work or where you lived. This information is taken from Experian, the credit checking company that already has your personal data on file (from credit cards, loans, banking, etc).
Once you verify it’s you using one of the methods, you should be able to proceed to the next step and access your vaccine records.
Approve Consent
You may be asked to approve consent by checking a box and typing your full name to confirm that you’ve given consent to accessing these records.
Your Vaccine / Immunization Records
Along with your COVID-19 records, you may have additional vaccines listed in your account. If you are closer to 18 in age, you may see childhood vaccine records which are required in schools. If you’ve had flu shots or recent tetanus shots, you may see these listed as well.
COVID-19 vaccine records will have each individual shot listed and the date. If you’ve had 2 shots (Pfizer + Moderna) and a booster, you should see them listed as “#1” #2” and “#3” respectively. Your type of shot MNF for Manufacturer (Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson + Johnson) will be listed, the lot number of the dose, an expiration date (several months from the date of the shot). “Location” will likely be a whom not a place, like FEMA (for the United Center), or a company/LLC that administered the shots.
Showing Proof of Vaccination
You will need to take a small extra step to make it easier for a business to scan your proof of your COVID-19 vaccination. Illinois has enabled SMART Card vaccination scanning that shows a QR code that you can have scanned at the entrance of a restaurant for in person dining. Luckily it’s as easy as checking a box.
Before you enable the SMART Card, it will be grayed out in your account. Take these steps & it will activate your QR code:
Go to your profile in your IDPH account
Below your personal information, read the excerpt under “Update 3rd Party Access” (this allows IDPH to show another party your COVID-19 vaccine status).
Check the box below the clause to allow this
Go back to the home page of your account with your vaccine listings
Next to the “Immunization Records” title, the “SMART Health Card” section should be activated, click to see the QR code & present this to the host/business for scanning
Reference + Help
Illinois Department of Public Health
Chicago COVID Testing Sites near Hermosa
Walmart in partnership with Quest Diagnostics
Primecare on Fullerton, 3924 W Fullerton Ave, Phone: 773-276-2229