Bashkiria parliament proposes to let people into hospitals without QR codes

The State Assembly of Bashkiria has prepared an amendment to the draft Federal Law "On the sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the population", adopted by the State Duma in December in the first reading and sent for consideration to the regional parliaments.

The amendment proposes to expand the range of facilities that will not require a vaccination certificate to be accessed. Kurultay proposes to add medical organizations to the list of such facilities.

"The Constitution guarantees the right of citizens to medical care. A patient cannot be denied either planned or even emergency care on the grounds that they have not been vaccinated," Konstantin Tolkachev, Chairman of the State Assembly RB, explained.

Without presenting supporting documents, it will be possible to visit pharmacies, grocery stores, and convenience stores (the list can be found here).

In general, the Bashkir deputies believe that the bill's concept is correct. "We are expecting another, already the fifth wave of the COVID incidence," Konstantin Tolkachev said. "Last year, this infection caused an unacceptably high mortality rate for a civilized society in our country. Experts believe that the main reason is the insufficient percentage of the vaccinated population. Checking QR codes will help us solve two problems at once. Firstly, it will limit the access of potential spreaders of the virus to crowded places and contain the spread of the disease. Secondly, it will motivate some of our fellow citizens to get vaccinated. This is a temporary but necessary measure."