Pharmacies, post office and banks did not receive exemptions in supermarkets: if they do not have a separate entrance, only people with a passport of opportunity will enter.

As of Monday, it will no longer be possible to visit multiple stores or use contact services without the possibility of a passport, except in accordance with the approved list of exceptions.

Exceptions include banks, pharmacies, postal services, and other essential services that often operate in supermarkets.

However, such services in supermarkets will remain inaccessible without the possibility of a passport.

“The ministry has confirmed that the control of access to supermarkets will be carried out at the supermarket level, that is, at the entrance to supermarkets, and not to each individual tenant. For this, amendments to the decision of the COO will be prepared, and in fact we agree with that, as it significantly simplifies the inspection procedure itself and increases the convenience and safety for visitors in supermarkets ”, says M. Statulevičius .

Recognize that the owners of some activities may be dissatisfied with this; According to the exceptions provided by the Government, all residents have access, for example, to banking, pharmaceutical and postal services.

“I know that Lietuvos Paštas has distributed his letter and opinion to supermarkets that access to their premises must be guaranteed, as they perform an important public function. I know that pharmacies have also expressed their desire to find those solutions. Well, you have to understand that such possibilities simply do not exist. Because then each of those objects, and there may be a dozen of them in a mall, you would have to install a separate tunnel or assign a separate person to accompany each customer who arrives without a passport. Otherwise, it is simply not possible to avoid confusion between people with and without a document, ”says M. Statulevičius.

According to him, it would be an absurd scenario if each merchant verified opportunity passports separately; then there would be 300 checkpoints in a shopping center.

“I don’t think everyone will be happy, but we have to understand that there are not only pharmacies, banks and post offices in supermarkets, there are alternatives. Knowing the level of vaccination in big cities where there are supermarkets will definitely not be a problem for most people. Yes, for someone it will be inconvenient. But at such a price that we can act so that there is no quarantine ”, says M. Statulevičius.

According to him, the opinion of the ministry agrees.

“The Ministry agreed that if these activities are located in supermarkets, indoors, they must be subject to the same requirements as the rest of the stores, that is, the passport must be checked at the entrance of the supermarket where there is a pharmacy or office of post office, “M Statulevičius.

The door may be closed; there are a few days to prepare

Buyers can expect trouble Monday as the operations manager’s decision has yet to be announced and there is less and less time left to implement it.

“It is a pity that everything has continued, we have been coordinating with the ministry for the second week, requesting this meeting, but it is as it is. Supermarkets will conduct a physical inspection, most likely by security personnel, both security guards and additional people hired to perform the inspections. We have been talking to security companies for almost a month since August, when the government decision was made, the resources were raised. But it may be that it lasts somewhere, it may be that somewhere I have to reduce the number of entries; to this day it is still difficult to tell, because the situation changes every day. Today, agreements are signed with security companies for the provision of services ”, says M. Statulevičius.

He assures that there are not many possibilities of adapting independent entrances in supermarkets to activities that, without exception, will be available to people without a passport.

“Unfortunately, it is not as easy here as in the spring to leave a separate entrance for someone and so on. From what we appreciate, others will be able to leave separate access to the pharmacy, but in most cases this is simply not technically or physically possible, because the PC is not designed to have many separate entrances.

Couriers will also show a passport of opportunity.

Couriers and food delivery service providers will also not have exclusive access to supermarkets.

“It was relevant to us because of the vendors who enter the supermarket premises, let’s say all the food delivery service providers, couriers, etc., which are relatively short, but still walk in, that’s their place of work. And here our opinion agreed: they should be subject to the same requirements as visitors. This means that they must have the passport documents and they must be checked when entering the PC ”, says M. Statulevičius.

The final procedure will be clear when the head of operations, Health Minister Arūnas Dulkys, publishes the decisions in the legal information system.

Camelia manager: this decision is wrong, you will not be able to get vaccinated

Aušra Budrikienė, CEO of the Camelia pharmacy chain, confirms that customers will not be able to enter supermarkets without the possibility of a passport.

“In our opinion, this decision is incorrect, because pharmacies provide the necessary pharmaceutical service; here patients consult and buy medicines. Access to pharmacies in supermarkets was also possible during quarantine and there was no need for a separate entrance, so we believe that the current restriction is incorrect. We also emphasize that, for example, our pharmacies where COVID-19 vaccination is performed in Vilnius are located in supermarkets – Nordika and Helios City. If the current decision is not changed, the residents will not be able to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in pharmacies, ”says A. Budrikienė.

Patients will still be able to enter pharmacies that have a separate entrance from the outside without a passport.