Russia makes official move to legalise QR codes for public places and transport

With the implementation of QR codes in transport and public places on the territory of Russia, a transition period will be announced, which will last until February 1, 2022, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said, TASS reports.

Earlier, Golikova said that the situation with the spread of COVID-19 worsened over the past week in five regions of the country. According to Golikova, the epidemic situation has changed for the worse in the Amur, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Ryazan and Tomsk regions. In this regard, Golikova said that a certificate of vaccination against coronavirus should become a document the importance of which would be comparable to citizen's passport.

On November 12, the government submitted bills to the State Duma that envisage the use of QR codes for visiting public places and travel by public transport.

Against the background of the deterioration of the situation with the spread of coronavirus in many regions of Russia, the government developed two bills that expand the use of QR codes confirming people's vaccination for COVID-19. Both of them have already been submitted to the State Duma.

One of the government's initiatives provides for the mandatory presentation of the vaccination QR code, a certificate on the recovery from COVID-19 or a certificate of medical exemption from vaccination when visiting all public places, in particular cafes and restaurants, as well as when visiting any public events. The lists specifying such places are to be determined by regional authorities.

The new bills will not regulate the work of pharmacies, grocery retail stores and stores selling essential goods.

The second bill will introduce the use of QR codes for traveling by air and railway transport.

The initiative implies that passengers will be allowed to board airplanes and trains only if they provide QR codes confirming their vaccination status. One will have to present codes when buying tickets.