Vaccine Passports: What Are They?

Considerable time has been spent misleading travelers about "vaccine passports." One argument alleges discrimination by citing developing countries' lack of digital infrastructure. Never mind the fact that developing countries like the Philippines have already borrowed 400 million dollars from development banks to buy vaccines, which surely includes software-based records management. In that 400 million USD loan from the Asian Development Bank is a clue leading you to the correct analysis. 

Ask yourself: why is an Asian Development Bank making loans to Asian countries in United States dollars? The USD is a strong currency, not a weak one, rendering a developing country's ability to satisfy the loan more difficult compared to a loan in its own currency, the Malaysian ringgit, or the versatile Singaporean dollar. If you answered, "Developed countries are promoting a globalized financial system in which they suppress the independent economic growth of formerly colonized nations," pat yourself on the back. 

Indeed, despite being called an Asian Development Bank, every single one of its presidents have been Japanese since 1966. For obvious reasons, Japan's financial system post-WWII is linked to the United States, giving Japan an incentive to promote Western-led companies rather than Asian-led companies. One could argue Japan's world-leading infrastructure allows it an earned seat at the head of any Asian table, except that Japan lacks experience managing sustainable economic growth in developing countries. What works for rich islands with relatively few young people surely doesn't work for poor countries with relatively many young people, a fact understood by everyone except economic "experts."

Once we remove the pretense of charity by developed nations, we can see vaccine passports for what they really are: another race by developed nations to set technological standards for export under their legal terms and conditions. Right now, we appear to have a race led by Japan, with the EU and China close behind. I wouldn't exclude the influence of the United States just yet. America's triple-layered form of government, intended to respect local control, means it is better off outsourcing this particular kind of technological development to a more centralized government, especially if that ally maintains the USD's financial supremacy. What does all this mean for you, the hopeful traveler? Nothing yet. Eventually, you will probably have to download at least one app to travel seamlessly and avoid potentially corrupt airport officials, so keep an eye on the following websites/apps: IATA Travel Pass; TrustAssure; CommonPass; and IBM's Digital Health Pass.

As more governments realize the importance of technological autonomy and artificial intelligence, they will attempt to maintain data on local servers, thus requiring international travelers to use multiple apps. In the past, developing countries seemed comfortable outsourcing digital border security to developed nations while focusing on physical border security. Moving forward, the aforementioned paradigm appears naive at best and negligent at worst. Then again, no one ever said a properly globalized world would be easy or convenient.  

© Matthew Rafat (March 2021) 

Update on April 2, 2021: the NY Times published an article very similar to this blog post on April 1, 2021--one day after my post. See here: https://www.nytimes.com/article/covid-vaccine-card.html

The NYT article is currently behind a paywall, but if you can access it, you can decide whether the NY Times borrowed from Lononaut's blog, minus the currency issues.