Here's what you need to know about your COVID-19 vaccine card

Once you've received your COVID-19 vaccine, you'll get a white card proving your vaccination.

But what do you do with it after that?

Dr. Edith Mirzaian, the Assistant Dean of Curriculum at the USC School of Pharmacy, provided some tips for what do with your vaccine card once you've received your COVID-19 vaccine.

"You don't need to carry it around with you if you've completed your COVID vaccine series and you don't really need to have it in your pocket or your wallet," Mirzaian said.

She recommends keeping it in a safe place and take a picture of it or make an extra copy.

If you lose your vaccine card, the person or place that administered your vaccine should have a record of it.

"If you're receiving them in a pharmacy setting or at vaccine site or mega site or physician's office or a health center of some kind, then whatever they're administering is being reported to the California Immunization Registry. So, the state also has an electronic record," Mirzaian said.

Dr. Mirzaian said to err on the side of caution when thinking about laminating your vaccine card.

"After you've completed the card, I would say it's okay to go ahead and laminate it for safekeeping. But it's not a requirement to do so," she said.

Office Depot and Staples locations are offering free lamination of COVID-19 vaccine cards at locations across the country.

According to Dr. Mirzaian, digital vaccine cards and apps are on the way. But having a paper card is a good backup.

"I do want to say that there's a big population that may not have a smartphone and may not be able to access their vaccine record on their phone. So that's why the paper cards are always a good idea," she said.

Vaccine passports might be needed in the future for international travel, but according to Dr. Mirzaian, that is not a new concept.

"There are countries in the world where Yellow Fever is endemic. And it's a requirement that you get the vaccine before you enter that country. And as a provider, when we administer Yellow Fever vaccine, we have to document on an international certificate of vaccination and give that form to our travelers, our patients, and then that's how they can enter the country," she said.