What is a vaccination certificate and why is it an important document?

In Germany, the standard vaccination certificate is a small yellow booklet based on World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. It records which vaccinations you have had and when. The booklet is valid for life, recognised internationally and printed in German, English and French.(1) If you need to prove a vaccination when travelling, you can use it as official proof.

In Germany, the vaccination certificate may also be needed for childcare, school or certain jobs. Since 1 March 2020, the Measles Protection Act (Masernschutzgesetz) has required children starting nursery or school to show proof of the measles vaccinations recommended by the Standing Committee on Vaccination (Ständige Impfkommission, STIKO). The same applies to people working in healthcare and community facilities.(2)

Healthcare professionals may also check your vaccination certificate after an injury or infection to see which vaccinations you have already had. This helps them decide whether you need a booster or passive immunisation.
It is therefore worth having your vaccination certificate checked regularly by a healthcare professional and keeping your vaccinations up to date.

What information does a vaccination certificate contain?

The layout of WHO vaccination certificates can vary, but most include the same main sections:
The first page usually contains personal details such as your surname, first name, date and place of birth, and address. There are also sections for yellow fever vaccinations, routine and booster vaccinations, flu vaccinations, travel vaccinations, and vaccinations recommended for certain at-risk groups.(3)

Good to know:

COVID-19 vaccinations may not always be listed in the same place. Older booklets may not have a dedicated COVID-19 section, while newer versions usually do.(4)

How do I read the entries in a vaccination certificate?

Entries are usually shown in a table. The date tells you when the vaccination was given and whether a booster may be due. The vaccine name and batch number are often added as stickers. If side effects occur, these details make it possible to identify exactly which vaccine was used.(1,6)

The entry also states which disease or diseases the vaccine protects against. If a combination vaccine was used, several diseases may be listed. These are often shown as abbreviations. Each entry is completed with the name of the person who gave the vaccination, the practice address, their signature and the practice stamp.(6)

Common vaccination abbreviations explained

The table below explains some of the most common vaccination abbreviations:

Abbreviation	Vaccination against	Explanation
T	Tetanus	Lockjaw; a life-threatening infectious disease
aP	Pertussis	Whooping cough; a highly contagious respiratory illness
IPV	Polio/poliomyelitis	Polio; a viral disease affecting the central nervous system
MMR	Measles, mumps, rubella	Highly contagious viral diseases (combination vaccine)
V	Varicella	Chickenpox, which can later lead to shingles; also available as the MMR-V combination vaccine
COVID-19	COVID-19	A viral infection affecting the respiratory tract
HPV	Human papillomaviruses	Can be passed on through intimate contact and may cause several types of cancer, among other conditions
Hib	Haemophilus influenzae type b	Can cause infections that may be severe or life-threatening

Source for table content: Robert Koch Institute (Robert Koch-Institut). Infectious diseases A–Z, available at: https://www.rki.de/DE/Themen/Infektionskrankheiten/Infektionskrankheiten-A-Z/infektionskrankheiten-a-z-node.html (last accessed: 19.02.2026)

Lost your vaccination certificate? Here is what to do

If you lose your vaccination certificate, your GP practice should be your first point of contact. They can issue a new one and help reconstruct your vaccination history. This may take some time, especially if your vaccinations were given at different practices.(3)
If you know where you were vaccinated, you can ask those practices to add the missing entries. For adults, this can be more difficult, for example if the practice that gave a routine vaccination no longer exists. If your previous vaccinations can no longer be traced, speak to your GP about what to do next.(5)

The Standing Committee on Vaccination recommends catching up on vaccinations if records are missing or incomplete, as only vaccinations documented in writing count as having been given.(7) Although receiving the same vaccine twice can cause local reactions, adequate protection is considered more important.

We recommend: Keep your vaccination certificate somewhere safe and easy to find, ideally with your other important documents. It is also worth keeping a copy in a secure place. If the original is lost, your GP practice can use the copy to help reconstruct the missing entries.

Is there a digital vaccination certificate?

Since the beginning of 2025, everyone with health insurance in Germany has automatically received an electronic patient record (elektronische Patientenakte, ePA), unless they opted out.(8)

In the future, vaccinations and related information are expected to be stored in a digital vaccination certificate. For now, however, Germany does not yet have a fully functional digital vaccination certificate.(9) A nationwide rollout is planned.(10)

The Doctolib app also lets you digitise your vaccination certificate. This can be useful as an additional option, but it does not replace the yellow booklet. Under the Infection Protection Act (Infektionsschutzgesetz), vaccinations must be documented in a vaccination certificate.(6)

The content provided is for informational purposes only and may not be used as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment by a doctor. Self-diagnosis and self-treatment are not recommended.