My vaccine passport
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 03:33PM 
Vaccine "passports" are getting a lot of press lately. Whether you are for'm, again'm, or couldn't-care-less about'm, know that they have been around for a rather long time. I got mine in 2010.
A speaking invitation to a conference in Nairobi gave me the opportunity to fulfill my long time dream of hiking Kilimanjaro. Yippee! I was advised by my tour agent to make sure all my shots were current, so I headed to see see my primary care physician - who redirected me to the clinic's "travel specialist."
Physicians who specialize in travel preparation for developing countries must at heart be sadists. As you can see from the scans of my vaccination passport, I received six separate needles in the arms that day. I guess it could have been worse if he had insisted the shots had to be in my butt. Thankfully, the doctor also gave me a prescription for pills that helped with altitude problems. They worked but made my fingers and toes feel like they had gone to sleep - about three days of tingles as I approached the summit.
Unfortunately, the life-span of my yellow fever, typhoid, and other exotic immunizations has lapsed, so should I want to back to a country where these diseases exist, I will be making another visit to the specialist. Hmmm, maybe a trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota to climb Black Elk Peak instead?
Anyway, I don't remember any problems with my having got this passport. I don't even remember even being asked to produce it in Kenya or Tanzania. I suppose with the newest COVID passports being digital and all, there is a greater potential for privacy abuse and discriminatory practice, but I can't get too worked up about it.
Yes, I made it to the top without getting yellow fever.
Reader Comments (1)
I had to carry one of those yellow shot cards when I flew to visit my parents during college. This was 1970 and they were in Hawaii. At the time, the Air Force considered the state to be a "tropical" location and everyone who entered the base needed current vaccinations for yellow fever, typhoid, and probably a couple of others.
I will have no problem carrying a 21st-century "vaccine passport" if it makes traveling easier.