there was a crowdsourced  vaccine,   
   that could be created regionally by  
    most   pharmaceutical  companies    
   without  much effort,  and it  was   
    estimated  that   it   had  saved   
       tens      of     millions.       
                                        
 but  it was not officially recognized by 
 the  world  health organization, and  as 
 such did  not  give  what the sanctioned 
 (and   unobtainable)   ones   did:   the 
 subskin chip  that would  let  you enter 
       (or     leave)      cities.      
                                        
  and that's why, eventually, we would  
  create  our  own chips.  they  were   
  larger than the official ones, and a  
    little  unstable,   and   needed    
   maintenance.  but  they   worked!    
  or, they would work together with  a  
  little  something to make the guard   
     look    the     other    way.      
                                      
                                      
                                          
   but the scanner showed green, so...