About CAIR                                                       

The California Immunization Registry (CAIR) is a secure, confidential, statewide computerized immunization information system for California residents. The registry is accessed online to help providers and other authorized users track patient immunization records, reduce missed opportunities, and help fully immunize Californians of all ages.  

Providers in most of California use the CAIR2 system which is supported by a centralized Help Desk and local  support staff . The greater San Joaquin Valley, utilizes different software (RIDE) to access patient immunization records.  View the CAIR Regions map (PDF) to see which system is used in your county.

How the CAIR system works:

1. California law allows health care providers to share patient immunization information with an immunization registry as long as the patient (parent, or legal guardian, if applicable) is informed about the registry. Patients also have the right to ‘lock’ the record in CAIR, so that immunization information is only visible to the patient's provider. CAIR ‘Disclosure’ and ‘Decline to Share’ forms are available on the CAIR Forms page.
   
2. Participation in CAIR is voluntary and is open to healthcare providers, schools, childcare facilities, county welfare departments, family childcare homes, foster care agencies, WIC service providers, and health care plans.  To participate, your organization must enroll in CAIR and agree to maintain the confidentiality of the patient immunization information and only use the information to provide patient care or to confirm that childcare or school immunization requirements have been met. 
3. Health care providers and other authorized users log in to the registry using an organization code, a user ID and a password.  
   

Read-only users can:

• Access patient immunization information

Regular users can:

Power users have all the capabilities of regular users as well as the ability to:

• Manage vaccine inventory 
  
• Run vaccine usage reports
  

Of note, new patients or vaccine doses can either be entered directly into CAIR using the web interface or can be submitted electronically as aggregated data files (e.g., exported from their EHR systems) for upload to CAIR. Many prominent private and public health care entities already share data electronically with CAIR!