California's CAIR Registry: Requesting Family Records
California keeps vaccination data in CAIR2. Who can request a record, what the registry holds, and why families still keep their own copy at home.
Published
The California immunization registry is CAIR2, which the California Department of Public Health describes on its CAIR information site as "a secure, confidential, statewide computerized immunization information system for California residents." Parents do not log into it: a copy comes through the child's clinic or CDPH's Digital Vaccine Record portal, and the registry began receiving data in the late 1990s.
Key takeaways
- CAIR2 is California's Immunization Information System; since AB 1797 took effect on January 1, 2023, providers must enter the immunizations they administer into a California registry.
- CDC's California policy page states that children and adults are included in the IIS with no possibility to opt out; a parent may instead ask the CAIR Help Desk to stop sharing a child's record with other CAIR users.
- The fastest copy comes from the child's clinic; CDPH also points the public to a Digital Vaccine Record portal for a copy of a record held in CAIR.
- CDPH states that CAIR records are retained for life, but the registry did not begin receiving information until the very late 1990s or early 2000s and not all California providers participate.
- By law a parent has the right to see a child's CAIR information and to ask the medical office to make corrections; corrections go through the office, not the printout.
The usual route to a copy is the clinic that treats the child, and CDPH's portal is there for a self-service download of a record already held in CAIR.
That is the whole procedure, and it is shorter than the reasons a printout can disappoint. This article covers requesting and reading a California record. It does not cover school immunization requirements themselves, medical exemptions, or how a provider enrolls in the system.
What is CAIR2, and what does it hold?
CAIR2 is California's Immunization Information System — one of the state-level databases that CDC defines, on its IIS overview page updated March 30, 2026, as "confidential, population-based, computerized databases that record all immunization doses administered by participating providers to persons residing within a given geopolitical area." CDC adds that these systems provide official immunization records for school, daycare and camp entry.
Two California specifics shape what lands in the file. CDPH notes that AB 1797, effective January 1, 2023, requires providers to enter the immunizations they administer into a California immunization registry. And CDC's IIS policy page for California, updated April 16, 2026, states that "children are included in the IIS with no possibility for their parent(s)/guardian(s) to opt them out" and that "adults are included in the IIS with no possibility to opt out."
Inclusion is not the same as sharing, and California separates the two. CDPH's FAQ for parents and the public explains that a parent may decline to share a child's record with other CAIR users by submitting the decline-to-share request to the CAIR Help Desk, and that the decision can be reversed later: "You can ask to stop sharing your child's information with other CAIR users at any time."
How do families get a copy?
| Route | What it is good for |
|---|---|
| Your child's clinic | The fastest copy; the office prints what CAIR shows during a visit |
| Digital Vaccine Record portal | A self-service copy of a record held in CAIR, linked from the CDPH CAIR site |
| Local health department | Older records, since local offices began collecting at different times |
| Previous providers | Doses given before the registry existed or by a non-participating office |
CDPH's parent FAQ lists the same fallbacks in the same order — physicians or medical groups that gave the immunizations, the local health department, California schools the student attended, and family records such as a baby book. It also states plainly that "by law, you have the right to see information about your child that's in CAIR and to ask the medical office to make needed corrections." Corrections go through the office, not through the parent editing a printout.
One durable point in California's favor: CDPH states that "immunization records in CAIR are retained for life, so vaccination history can be made available for college admission, trips abroad, military service, and for other purposes." That is a real advantage over a paper card in a drawer, and it still leaves the household without a copy in hand on the day a camp form is due.
Why does a CAIR printout look thin?
Because a registry records what participating providers reported, inside one state, after the system existed. CDPH's parent FAQ says it directly: "the registry did not begin to receive information until the very late 90s/early 2000s and that not all health care providers in California participate."
The gaps that show up most often in a California immunization registry report:
- Doses given in another state. A registry boundary is a state line; a move is not a data transfer.
- Doses given before the late 1990s. Adults asking about their own childhood series are usually asking a paper question.
- Doses from non-participating or closed practices. A practice that shut down did not necessarily hand its data to anyone.
- Identity mismatches. A nickname on one form, a transposed birth date, or a hyphenated surname entered two ways can split one child across two files.
None of that makes the report useless. It makes it one source among several, which is how rebuilding a lost immunization history treats it: the provider who gave the dose first, the state system second, school and camp copies third. The general shape of these systems — and why there is no national login — is covered in our article on state immunization registries.
What should a household keep at home?
Keep the dates. A registry request is a good move at specific moments — a school or camp deadline, a change of doctor, a move, a lost card — and a poor substitute for knowing what your family has between those moments.
Ask two questions at every visit where a dose is given: will this be reported to the registry, and can I have the date in writing today. Then put the date somewhere you can find it in an airport or a school office. That is the argument in keeping family vaccine records in one place, and it is the job Vaxnext does on an iPhone or Android phone: one file per family member, kept on the device with no account, with reminders that work offline and a JSON export you send yourself through the phone's own share sheet. It holds what you enter. It is not a copy of CAIR2, it does not sync with the state, and nothing in it replaces the official record a school asks for.
FAQ
Who can request a record from a state registry?
Access is set by state law and generally runs through a provider or the state program rather than through open public lookup. In California, CDPH states that a parent has the right by law to see the information about their child that is in CAIR and to ask the medical office to make needed corrections, and it directs the public to a Digital Vaccine Record portal for a copy of a record held in the registry.
Why might a registry record look incomplete?
Because it holds what participating providers reported within that state, from the date the system began operating. CDPH's parent FAQ warns that CAIR did not start receiving information until the very late 1990s or early 2000s and that not all California providers participate. Doses given in another state, at a closed practice, or before the system existed can be missing without anything being wrong with the request.
Not medical advice. This article is general information based on public CDC and California Department of Public Health pages, read on September 5, 2026. It does not replace a clinician, and a registry printout is not a clinical assessment. Confirm the current official page and your own situation before you act.