You can now make your vaccination card digital

(Update: Adding video and OHA comments)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- You can now carry your COVID-19 vaccine card any time and anywhere a lot easier with the Oregon Health Authority's new, Oregon's My Electronic Vaccine Card.

To sign up for the card, you'll need to enter your name, birthdate a phone number or email address and a personalized PIN (Personal Identification Number). After that, you'll get a link to a QR code that will show all of the COVID-19 vaccines you've received in the state.

The electronic vaccine card is voluntary, and the state has no plans to make it mandatory, according to the OHA.

While the state dropped its mask mandate more than a month and a half ago there are still a few places that require proof of vaccination. HAIM, Tenacious D and The Chicks are the only acts at the Hayden Homes Amphitheater in Bend currently requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test.

The online vaccine card project started last fall and was delayed when feedback from community suggested changing the systems name.

In an email to NewsChannel 21, Rudy Owens, a public affairs specialist with OHA, wrote, "QR codes can be digitally verified, unlike paper cards. This makes them more secure and harder to produce fraudulent ones. QR codes can be scanned to show that they are valid records produced by a trusted issuer."

As far as identity theft or a person using their friends vaccination record, Owens wrote, "An entity will use its own discretion in asking for vaccination information with or without photo ID."

California and Washington also have an option for residents to carry an electronic vaccine card.