LOS ANGELES, Calif. (KERO) — COVID-19 vaccination rates for police and firefighting personnel in Los Angeles and prison employees across California are significantly lower than the state's average for other adults.

According to the LA Times while about 72 percent of adult Californians and 64 percent of LA residents 16 and older have received at least one vaccine dose only about 50 percent of the city's police and firefighters are at least partially vaccinated.

The low vaccination rate is raising concerns among officials about whether unvaccinated first responders could become a threat to public health.

And California is launching a new way for people to keep track of their vaccination status online. The state is launching what they call a "Digital COVID-19 vaccine record."

People can sign up online. You'll enter your name, birthday, email, phone number and create a four-digit pin. Then you'll be sent a digital version of your vaccination record that has the same information on it as the CDC card you already have.

You'll also have a QR code that can be scanned if you need to prove vaccination to enter a venue, business, or country that requires it.