Covid curtain: Sputnik V vaccination could block Russians from entering Europe

As you know, most Russians do not want to be vaccinated against coronavirus. According to a survey conducted by the Levada Center at the end of December last year, only 38% of the country's population are ready to be vaccinated. Usually, only those who feel most vulnerable to the virus want to get vaccinated.

Sociologists also named the main reasons for the refusal:

30% - the vaccine is not ready and not fully studied;

29% - the vaccine has dangerous side effects;

12% - there are contraindications.

In addition, 12% of respondents said they saw no reason to get vaccinated against coronavirus, and 10% generally oppose any vaccinations.

The Telegram channel "Without prescription" reports that domestic vaccines "Sputnik V" and "EpiVacCorona" are available for mass immunization, which have already been registered and are being sent to the regions. Research Center named after Gamalei has agreed to conduct joint trials with the British AstraZeneca, but the combined vaccine will not be used in Russia.

It is also reported that on the website of the State Services it will be possible to obtain a passport of a person vaccinated against coronavirus. "Covid passports" will be issued to those vaccinated with the Sputnik V vaccine. It will be possible to travel with this document, but only to those countries where the domestic vaccine is recognized. Negotiations on this issue with Europe are underway, but so far to no avail.

The State Duma has not yet approved the introduction of "covid passports", the channel's experts write. Deputy Alexander Petrov called the document absurd from the point of view of medicine. The human body reacts differently to the vaccine - some produce many antibodies for a long time, others have few and will last for a month, and still others may not develop any antibodies.

A number of experts believe that not only vaccinated citizens should receive a "covid passport", but also those who have recovered from covid-19. Having a passport does not guarantee protection - it can be replaced by a fresh certificate of the presence of antibodies. But on the Internet, you can already buy it at an affordable price. Dozens of offices offer to make a fake document. Sites are gradually being blocked, but new ones are taking their place.

In addition, it is noted that the principle of "vaccinated - not vaccinated" is contrary to the basic installation on the voluntary nature of vaccination.

Meanwhile, the EU unofficially made it clear that entry will be allowed only to those who have vaccinations (with the status approved in the EU), or based on test results.

Vaccination and the presence of a "covid passport" should provide additional opportunities (the right not to wear a mask or gloves), but not abolish the basic rights of citizens to freedom of movement (air travel abroad).

In Europe, there is already talk of possible lawsuits challenging “covid passports” as violating human and civil rights principles. Such a protest civic initiative has prospects, given that most of the citizens are not going to be vaccinated.

For Russians, to obtain a visa to the United States, Australia, the EU, vaccinations with a domestic drug may not be enough, they most likely need a European passport, which will be issued to a person after an injection with Pfizer and BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.

Most likely, this is happening because Russia was too quick to announce the creation of "the world's first vaccine" without having carried out all the tests necessary in such cases.

This is probably why there are news about Russian purchases of foreign vaccines. For example, a clinic from Skolkovo. Different sources talk about 2-2.5 million, and immunization with foreign drugs will be paid, so only wealthy and privileged citizens will be the first to overcome the "covid curtain".

Experts from the Master of the Pen ("Master pera") channel comment on the situation:

“The European Union is introducing its own vaccine European passports, rigidly linking the issuance of Schengen visas to them. Only those citizens of foreign countries, including Russia, who will demonstrate "covid passports" with a mark on vaccination with drugs certified in Europe, that is, Moderna and Pfizer, will be able to count on a visa to the EU. Neither Sputnik-V nor Vector are included in the EU certified category, which means they are becoming domestic vaccines that do not give the right to enter the EU countries under the new passport and epidemiological rules.

In this regard, under the guise of a propaganda campaign for the vaccination of ordinary Russians with a sovereign vaccine, the loudly undisclosed purchases of foreign vaccines in relatively small volumes for the domestic elites and those citizens who can afford to get a commercial vaccination with the vaccine opening the way to Europe have intensified. So, through the R-Pharm company of Alexey Repik, 2 million doses of Pfizer were purchased - for those vaccinated who are not indifferent to Schengen or, for example, a visa to the United States, Australia and other difficult, but attractive states. For the same reason, the introduction of vaccine europasses in Hungary had to abandon the Russian drug Sputnik-V.

In fact, the pandemic and the vaccine race associated with it lead to a new type of "iron curtain", when the usual visa formalities are no longer enough for a transfer from Russia to foreign countries, and a mandatory mark of the "correct" vaccine is also required. Perhaps this approach of external partners will be limited by the acute period of the pandemic, which is calculated in one or two years, but it should not be ruled out that the restrictions will come into force for a long time, that is, they will be billed for five years. Of course, in such a situation, the best solution would be to agree on the mutual recognition of vaccines, but the epidemiological, and even more so the political, situation at international crossroads is such that this goal is not yet achievable, and therefore everyone has their own vaccine and their own perimeter of possibilities associated with it".