MOSCOW, June 29./TASS/. It is difficult to establish the tendency regarding questions for the Direct Line program with President Vladimir Putin program, but this year coronavirus is in the focus, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Tuesday.
"There are many questions, traditionally many. They are coming through various channels. The set of issues varies from year to year, it is difficult to establish any tendency," he said, adding that this year coronavirus will certainly be the focal point.
He specified that the questions received were about vaccination, about the end of the pandemic and its possible economic consequences. "A huge bloc of questions related to coronavirus," Peskov noted.
Vaccination in Russia remains voluntary, and President Vladimir Putin will dwell on the issue at the direct line on Wednesday, the spokesman added.
"Vaccination indeed remains voluntary. I have no doubt that the president will give a detailed answer during the direct line," Peskov said.
He drew the analogy with the health permit for the catering workers. "For example, you seek the job of a cook at a children’s canteen. You need a health certificate. Is it compulsory? Yes, it is. But you can opt not to work as a cook," he said, adding that the situation was exactly the same with vaccination.
"If you want to work there, where it concerns people, get vaccinated if you please, and the city or regional authorities are free to make decisions within the framework of special powers, regulating conditions for a concrete sector, a concrete profession, a concrete field of the occupation," Peskov stated.
This cannot be equated with compulsory vaccination, he stressed. "This is the time we live in. This is unprecedented time," the Kremlin spokesman concluded.
The Direct Line will be held on Wednesday. As the Kremlin press service reported earlier, anyone can ask the president a question through a special mobile application, which enables a direct video link to the studio directly during the broadcast. Questions are also accepted through the program's website moskva-putinu.ru.