The government has submitted to the State Duma bills on QR codes in public places, as well as international and intercity transport. An official message about this appeared on the portal of the Cabinet of Ministers. As it says, “the proposed solutions are an emergency measure against the backdrop of a difficult situation with the coronavirus.” Details were additionally announced at a briefing on Friday evening, November 12, by Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova and Minister of Transport Vitaly Savelyev.
So, there are two bills. The first one is about how now to visit places of mass events, cultural institutions, public catering facilities and retail trade. For this you will need:
- either a QR code about the vaccination;
- either a document confirming that the person has had a coronavirus;
- either a medical recusation from vaccination.
Until February 1, there will be a transitional period: if the necessary documents are not available, you can present a negative PCR test. After February 1, such an opportunity will only be available to citizens with a medical treatment. As Tatyana Golikova explained, the transitional period is given so that citizens can prepare: get vaccinated, if they have not already done so, and deal with the documents.
The decision on the use of QR codes and a specific list of objects where they are required will be made by the regional authorities. You will definitely not need to present anything when visiting pharmacies and shops that sell food and essential goods.
The rules of the law will be valid until June 1, 2022.
The second bill is about the procedure for using QR codes on trains and airplanes. We are talking about intercity and international transport (innovations do not apply to intracity transport).
Passengers will need:
- either a QR code about the vaccination;
- either a medical challenge from vaccination;
- either confirmation of the transferred coronavirus.
Medical documents will be required when purchasing a ticket and will need to be presented at boarding.
Until the date set by the government (it is not yet known), a negative PCR test result will be sufficient. It will also be required by a citizen of a foreign state when traveling on our railway or air transport.
- What documents are you talking about? This is essentially an extract from the certificate of a vaccinated citizen, the uniform form of which was approved by the Ministry of Health this week, – Tatyana Golikova additionally said at a briefing. – Now the vaccinated certificate contains three items: vaccination or revaccination, past illness or medical recusal.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, previously issued vaccination documents remain valid until March 1, 2022. This refers to paper certificates. The information that is stored on a single portal of public services will be updated automatically in the same time frame – the citizens themselves do not need to do anything. Those Russians who are not registered in public services, do not have smartphones or live in remote areas at all – in general, everyone who may have problems obtaining the necessary documents through public services – will be able to order an extract from a certificate with a QR code in a multifunctional center (MFC ).
Children and adolescents will still not need “kuars”, since we have had vaccinations since the age of 18.
- We are already starting to work with airlines, our railway companies. We are working out the technology, as quickly as possible, without disrupting the rhythm and logistics for passengers, to check the medical documentation that will be presented so as not to delay them at boarding, – said in turn the Minister of Transport Vitaly Savelyev. – I think there will be no big difficulties here. Of course, each airline has its own booking systems, they will need to be combined with the system of public services, which is what we are doing now.
Why are the new measures introduced exactly before June 1?
“We hope that we will still be able to achieve the indicators of herd immunity, which we have established as criterial – 80% of the adult population,” said Tatiana Golikova. – Although I want to emphasize that countries that already have the experience of large-scale vaccination of their populations are raising this bar to 90-95% in order to defeat the spread of the pandemic.
