Many of us likely converted our COVID-19 vaccinations into a digital format for ease of access over the last two years, but perhaps now you’re wanting to remove your vaccine records from your Apple device.
Your vaccine card may contain information you don’t want others to see, including sensitive information like your birthday and dates of vaccination. And that might be the reason you decide it’s better to not have your vaccine card on your phone.
In this article, we’ll walk through the process of how you can remove your vaccines records from your Apple Wallet or Apple Health app with just a few simple taps.
Contents
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- How to add your digital vaccine record to the Wallet or Health app on iPhone and Apple Watch
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Wanting to remove your vaccine records from your Apple device?
Over the last few years, presenting your COVID-19 vaccination may have been needed for a variety of reasons. Everywhere from restaurants, to sports venues, and airlines may have asked to see proof of your vaccination.
The easiest way was to convert your paper CDC vaccination card into a digital format. Fortunately for many Apple users, you could easily upload a verifiable vaccine link or QR code into your Apple Wallet.
As booster shots have become available, you may have found yourself with the need to remove your vaccine records from your Apple device in order to provide an updated version. Or perhaps you just no longer want your private medical information and records attached to your phone.
Fortunately, removing your vaccine records from your Apple Wallet or Apple Health app is simple and straightforward. We’ll list the steps below.
How to remove your vaccine records from your Apple Wallet
If you’ve received a booster dose, an additional booster dose, or have had another change in status that you need to update, you may need to remove your vaccine records from Apple Wallet and then add it back again to show the latest information and update the vaccine pass’s QR code.
To remove a vaccine record from Apple Wallet, follow these steps
- Open the Wallet app on your iPhone or Apple Watch.
- Tap on your vaccine pass.
- For iPhones, tap the More button (three dots) in the top right corner.
- For Apple Watches, scroll down through all the vaccination information.
- Tap Remove or Remove Pass, then Confirm.
Apple removes your pass from both your iPhone’s and Apple Watch’s Wallet app. To get a new vaccine pass with all the latest information, follow the steps outlined in this article: How to add your digital vaccine record to the Wallet or Health app on iPhone and Apple Watch.
When you remove a vaccination card from the Wallet app, it does not automatically remove your vaccination record from your iPhone’s Apple Health app.
If you wish to remove your vaccine record entirely from your iPhone, follow the steps below to remove it from the Health app.
How to remove your health records from the Apple Health app
Apple’s Health app holds a variety of features that are helpful in monitoring your hearing health, heart, mindfulness, nutrition, and sleep (among many others). It also serves as a place to privately and securely digitally connect to other health records from supported healthcare organizations and providers.
If you previously linked your state’s Immunization Registry, healthcare provider’s patient portal, or medical account from your physician’s office, you’ll be able to view things such as your clinical vitals, allergies, medications, test results, immunizations, and more straight from the Apple Health app.
When you link Apple Health to your health record from a supported healthcare provider and you receive an additional vaccine dose or booster, that updated record is automatically synchronized to your iPhone’s Health app.
Linking your medical account definitely has its conveniences for ease of access. But not everyone wants all of their medical information readily available on their iPhone.
Additionally, if you get another vaccine dose after you already added your initial dose(s) to your iPhone, you may need to delete your initial vaccine record from Apple Health and then add your updated vaccine record via a new QR code. Check the information first–sometimes it updates automatically and sometimes it does not.
To remove your health record on the Health app:
- Open the Health app and tap Summary in the lower left corner.
- Select your profile picture in the upper right corner.
- Under Features, choose Health Records.
- Select the provider or organization you would like to remove.
- Tap Remove Source or Remove Account.
- Confirm by tapping Remove Account & Delete Data or Remove Source & Delete Data.
Your vaccination records, along with any other health data from your healthcare provider(s) or physician, are immediately removed and are no longer linked to your iPhone.
If you also use iCloud to store and sync your Health app’s information across devices, including your health records, removing an account or source from your iPhone’s Health app should also remove that information from iCloud.
To check if you use iCloud with the Health app, on your iPhone go to Settings > Apple ID > iCloud and scroll down the Apps Using iCloud section to the Health app.
If you don’t want these records to sync across your devices that you sign in with the same Apple ID, toggle it off.
Final thoughts
Having your digital medical records at your fingertips is a great convenience, but it’s not for everybody.
We hope you’ve seen just how easy it is to remove your vaccine records from your Apple Wallet or Health app with only a few simple steps needed.
Just remember that for the time being, you still may need to show your physical vaccination card when requested. Instead of using your phone, keep your card with you and present the card when you need to show proof of vaccination.