Basic ethical considerations feature prominently in practically all deliberations and decisions regarding the use of vaccine passports, on the scientific, administrative, and political level. On the pragmatic level, vaccine passports offer an opportunity to open up sections of the economy that are in tatters, opening borders, reuniting families, and removing the pressure on the livelihoods of countless people. But their use can also appear incompatible with fundamental principles of equality and freedom. Is that indeed the case, or is this impression of incompatibility merely and effect of misguided interpretation of what those principles amount to? Or if indeed the use of vaccine passports is at odds with these fundamental principal properly understood, how much should they weigh against equally fundamental principles of security, safety, and happiness?