Kamchatka cancelled the requirement for QR codes on transport

Authorities of Kamchatka region cancel from December 21 QR-codes about vaccination against COVID-19 on air and road transport in the region. This was announced by Governor of the region Vladimir Solodov on December 20. “In connection with the significance of the movement of citizens before the New Year and in the New Year holidays, from tomorrow it was decided to cancel restrictive measures in relation to inter-municipal communication, those we had introduced,” – Solodov said at the weekly operational meeting with the government of the region (quoted by TASS). The presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District was aware of Governor Solodov’s initiative and approved it, a source close to the envoy told Vedomosti. Solodov has already signed the decree cancelling the effect of QR codes on transport, according to the website of the government of the region. Checks have been in force on long-distance journeys by road transport since November 23, also on the flights on the routes within the region. In order to travel by air a passenger could present at the airport before the flight a QR code of vaccinated or recovered Covid-19 disease, the certificate of vaccination or the negative result of PCR-testing. QR-code check on the air transport has been introduced not only in Kamchatka, but also in Khabarovsk region since December 1. It is still in force. A similar QR-code checking scheme was going to be introduced at the federal level. A bill introducing the requirement to present certificates of vaccination against coronavirus infection on transport and in public places has even been submitted to the State Duma. But in the end in December the adoption of the document was stopped after criticism of President Vladimir Putin. But QR code checks in Kamchatka were not a significant obstacle to the movement of citizens. Earlier “Vedomosti” found out that only four passengers without codes failed to make a flight. They were following the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky – Tilichiki route, a representative of the regional carrier Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise (KAP) told. “To check QR codes, the airline purchased three cell phones with programs for scanning. A separate staff was not hired. Employees of the transportation organization service scanned at the airport themselves,” a representative of KAP told Vedomosti. According to him, some passengers were “not very positive” about the screening procedure. “But most were sympathetic and most had QR codes or other replacement documents,” he clarified. At the same time Alexei Khrabrov, the general director of KAP, in conversation with “Vedomosti” noted: “We have a somewhat ambiguous situation, awkward in relation to the passengers. Of course, they are asking questions. After all, the State Duma withdrew [the federal] draft on the introduction of QR codes on transport from consideration, and in our country [in Kamchatka] the Governor’s decree was still in force. That’s why we had to check the documents”. In addition, according to the KAP employee, it was difficult for the company’s staff to verify the passenger’s documents if it was not a QR code. “It is difficult to verify the validity of the certificates that passengers provide. We look at them, but it is difficult to confirm that they are original. If we thought the certificate was valid, we allowed the passenger to fly,” she added.