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Coronavirus pandemic

Allowing foreign travel only to owners of ‘COVID passports’ not discussed, says Kremlin

The Kremlin representative added that Kremlin does not have an official position on the introduction of such "COVID passports," including in the form of QR-codes, in certain regions

MOSCOW, January 19. /TASS/. Russian authorities do not consider tying the right to travel abroad with the presence of a document confirming inoculation against the coronavirus, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated to journalists on Tuesday.

"No," he said in response to a corresponding question. The spokesman explained that the idea of "COVID passports" is discussed in relation to existing restrictions on movement of people in other countries. "The idea was that countries hypothetically could agree that people with some sort of passports could move about more freely," he added. "We are far from a unified point of view on this subject right now, there are no consistent approaches or a consensus on this subject," he emphasized.

The Kremlin representative added that Kremlin does not have an official position on the introduction of such "COVID passports," including in the form of QR-codes, in certain regions. "Yet this subject is circulating, it’s being worked out," he noted. He reiterated that a similar question was posed to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the annual press conference, after its completion the head of state issued relevant orders. "The coronavirus created a certain new reality that you and I live in and will live in for an indefinite time period. That is why different variants are being worked on in order to make our life easier in these conditions," he stated.

Speaking of the initiative to introduce QR-codes in some regions, the Kremlin spokesman emphasized the importance of raising awareness of what benefits they can provide. "This is simply a reason for a very active, I’d even say, proactive information campaign in order to explain the essence of discussions without leaving space for various misinterpretations," he added.

Earlier on Friday, Russia’s top sanitary doctor Anna Popova reported within the framework of the Gaidar Forum that the introduction of "immune passports" due to the pandemic is a subject for discussion, the relevant discussions are already underway, including the issues of inadmissibility of discrimination against any vaccine.

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