QR-codes in the new laws of the State Duma: we turn them out of the door, they try to get in through the window

Irina Mishina

During her visit to the State Duma, Tatyana Golikova spoke in detail about the measures that many rushed to call almost a people's victory and the triumph of common sense over QR codes. As you know, the government has really thought out the options for obtaining vaccination certificates for those who have had coronavirus infection and who have antibodies. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, people with positive PCR tests after January 1, 2021 will be offered to take antibody tests to issue a document as having had COVID-19. Citizens with antibodies will receive certificates of those who have been ill for six months, and those who had a positive PCR test plus antibodies - for a year.

The bill on the introduction of QR codes in transport seems to have been postponed. It was not so!

On Tuesday, the State Duma Health Protection Committee returned to anti-epidemic measures and discussed changes in the Law on Sanitary and Epidemiological Welfare. As a result, the State Duma Healthcare Committee recommended the lower house of parliament to support the bill on the introduction of QR codes in public places.

“Our conclusion is to support and recommend to be adopted in the first reading”, - summed up the head of the committee Dmitry Khubezov. On December 16, the State Duma will consider in the first reading this very bill (its number 17357-8). According to the document, to visit restaurants, non-food stores, public events and cultural institutions, you will need a document with a QR code confirming vaccination, contraindications to it, or a previous illness.

“As for the introduction of QR-codes in transport, this bill has not been removed from the agenda, but sent for revision. It is being studied and worked out in detail. As a doctor and as a deputy, I consider it very important to maintain restrictive anti-epidemic measures in order to curb the increase in the incidence. Tatyana Alekseevna Golikova came to the State Duma, she answered questions in great detail, with all the clarifications. In public places, QR-codes will be valid. The only exception will be grocery stores and pharmacies. And all other publicly accessible places will be admitted only by QR codes. These are restaurants, theaters, museums, shopping centers - all of this will be done using QR-codes", - said Tamara Frolova, member of the State Duma Health Protection Commission, to NI.

We decided to clarify what threshold of antibodies will be taken into account when issuing certificates to those who have been ill and to those who had a positive PCR test. “The level of antibodies will not be taken into account, the main thing is that they simply be there. We decided to take into account only the fact of positive PCR and the presence of antibodies, without going into numbers. It's just a matter of principle: are they there or not, "explained Tamara Frolova, a member of the State Duma's health protection committee.

Social networks have already commented on the new government measures on anti-epidemic measures, including the introduction of QR codes for those who have recovered on the basis of PCR and antibody analysis. Note, by the way, that not every clinic will be able to get an antibody result for those who have had covid disease. This is primarily the bread of private laboratories. In them, as we found out, the cost of testing for antibodies to Sars Cov 2 ranges from 890 to 1,100 rubles. Here are the opinions expressed in this regard on the TG-channel "Nezygar":

@obrazbuduschego2: “Business is even better on tests than on vaccines, because it is endless. What Golikova is now proposing on behalf of the farmlobby: if you don’t want to get vaccinated, pay for the tests ”.

@ausguck: “Golikova with her statement that the antibody test = QR code works well to expand the food supply for the beneficiaries of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.”

@wisedruidd: "The toxicity level of the farm lobbyists is off the charts, half of the country literally hates them, and they are trying to bargain".

It is worth stopping and thinking: do all these QR-codes have anything to do with the fight against coronavirus? The logic in all these measures is not traced everywhere. In public transport, which is recognized as the most vulnerable place for infection with covid, there will be no QR codes, but in the museum and in the theater, where everyone is already wearing masks and observing a social distance, there is a double cordon checking QR codes.

“In addition, Golikova, apparently, rested on political forces, it was not for nothing that she talked for so long in the State Duma with representatives of the New People faction and with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, who are against all restrictions. It should be borne in mind that there is a strong pharmaceutical lobby within the government. A sufficient number of people have already been vaccinated in Russia, the vaccination plan can be said to have been fulfilled. Apparently, other beneficiaries of the pandemic are next in line”, - said political scientist Ilya Grashchenkov.

Indeed, according to official data (source - stopkoronavirus.rf website as of December 10, 2021), 74,189,385 people were vaccinated with the first component in Russia, 67,260,355 people were fully vaccinated. In Moscow, the vaccination plan, in general, seems to have been overfulfilled. "The decree of the Chief Sanitary Doctor on compulsory vaccination of at least 80% of workers in healthcare, education, social sphere, trade, public catering and a number of other sectors of the economy has been fully implemented. Many thanks to the leaders and employees of these organizations for this", - Mayor Sergey Sobyanin wrote on his blog. This may not be enough for herd immunity, but enough for vaccine business owners. NI was described in detail about billions of dollars in income of vaccine manufacturers in the article “Satellite of billions: who literally benefits from vaccination”.

Obviously, the curtsey towards foreign vaccines, which will be recognized in Russia and according to which our fellow citizens will also be issued QR-codes, is also connected with the "fulfillment of the plan" for domestic vaccines.

“As regards vaccination in Russia, apparently, by now everything that is needed has already been mastered. It was necessary to recognize other vaccines for a long time, because otherwise the question arises: are we fighting the pandemic or are we supporting pharmaceutical companies? In addition, vaccinations with foreign vaccines cost money. It is necessary to proceed from logic, because antibodies are produced during vaccination with Sputnik, Pfizer, or Moderna. And this is, of course, nonsense when, when entering another country, you need to be vaccinated again with a vaccine recognized only there. So we all risk becoming guinea pigs over time. The recognition of Western vaccines may also indicate that there is a fusion of domestic structures with international content”, - said political scientist Ilya Grashchenkov.

The question has long been in the air: will foreign vaccines be certified in Russia? As we were succinctly informed in the press service of Tatyana Golikova, we are talking about the recognition of foreign vaccines in Russia. True, from the Ministry of Health of Russia we received a florid answer on this score:

“The use of medicinal products on the territory of the Russian Federation is allowed after passing the state registration procedure. The procedure for state registration of medicinal products on the territory of the Russian Federation is of a declarative nature and is carried out after a corresponding application is submitted by the manufacturer of the medicinal product that is to be put into circulation on the territory of the Russian Federation for the first time”.

Understand how you want. The Ministry of Health could not add anything more to this. We received explanations from the director of the Institute of Health Economics at the Higher School of Economics, Larisa Popovich: “In fact, clinical trials of a Chinese vaccine, which should appear on the Russian pharmaceutical market, are currently underway in Russia. Clinical trials of a coronavirus drug developed by Pfizer "Paxlovid" are also underway. Neither Moderna, nor Johnson & Johnson, nor Аstrazeneca, as far as I know, have submitted applications".

This is understandable, given the position of the Kremlin, voiced by Dmitry Peskov: "The process of recognizing foreign vaccines and certificates of vaccination against coronavirus is possible only if similar steps are taken by foreign countries." According to Peskov, the recognition of vaccines should be mutual.

What will all the announced restrictive and anti-epidemic measures lead to? Will they be able to protect against the new Omicron strain, which has already penetrated into Europe, took its first life there and was brought to Russia? Personally, I am impressed by the opinion of Larisa Popovich, Director of the Institute for Health Economics at the Higher School of Economics: “Everything is ambiguous. At first glance, the indulgences that many asked for have gone. But what to do, for example, with transport, where most people get infected? The question remains unanswered. There are alarming reports about the spread of the Omicron strain, and here, it would seem, it is necessary to prepare for an increase in the incidence, but we started talking about concessions. And if, with all this, people go abroad, to Africa, to the homeland of the Omicron strain, a pandemic may have any scenario. Well, yes, there will be new amendments to the Law on Sanitary and Epidemiological Welfare, fines for the lack of masks in the subway, and in overcrowded buses you can even without a mask. At the same time, we forget: the main protection against coronavirus is not the mask, but the head".