It would be great to use the barcode located on many vaccines and VIS’s with a barcode scanner versus manual entry. Why does CDC include 2D barcodes on VISs now? As part of a modernization initiative, CDC began adding barcodes to VISs in April 2012. The addition of the barcode is intended primarily to help immunization providers save time by allowing them to scan certain required information about the VIS (e.g., the name and edition date of the VIS) into an electronic medical record, immunization information system, or other electronic database. Scanning the barcode instead of manually recording the information is optional. Using barcodes requires a 2D barcode scanner and software that is programmed to accept and process data contained in the VIS barcodes. Providers may continue to use any VISs they printed before CDC started adding barcodes as long as the VIS content is otherwise the same. See the next question for more information about discarding old VISs. For more information about barcodes and scanning, visit www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/barcodes.html.