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As hospitals fill COVID-19 patients, more public spaces will be available only starting Monday with a passport issued to people who have been vaccinated, sick or constantly undergoing tests.
Already in the morning at the entrance to Mindaugo “Maxima” street in Vilnius, people were greeted by two employees; customers could only enter the store by displaying documents with a unique QR code.
This is one of 75 stores in the Maxima retail chain, which can only be accessed with a passport of opportunity.
People are already getting used to the new restrictions.
“It is logical, everything is in order,” said Donatas Alešiūnas, who left Maxima.
“Quarantine without vaccination”
The doors of the mall in Kaunas Akropolis on Monday morning are shut down and visitors are directed through the nearby entrance. Here, three employees scan opportunity passports over the phone.
As more traffic comes in, there is a small queue at the entrance, but it doesn’t take long to dissolve, and most people prepare phones with a passport or paper versions ahead of time.
The Opportunity Passport was introduced in Lithuania as a means of granting more privileges to people with immunity in late May, but even then the government said it would be necessary in the autumn, when the epidemiological situation would deteriorate.
After the number of COVID-19 patients in the hospital exceeded the agreed limit of 300, the Cabinet decided in August to ban passport-free access to major shopping and entertainment centers, coffee shops, hair salons and other non-essential services, to starting September 13. .
Health Minister Arūnas Dulkys called it “quarantine without vaccines.”
In preparation for the new restrictions, since the beginning of September, the passport of opportunity has been issued at post offices, Sodra branches or pharmacies in Lithuania;
According to D. Alešiūnas, a 30-year-old dentist who has been shopping in Vilnius, this is the most effective way to manage a pandemic so far.
“If someone comes up with a better way to handle it all, let him offer himself, don’t just cry,” the man said.
“I really had no problem, I have a checked passport at work, it is stored on the phone. Also, yesterday I received a message from Maxima, I knew it would have to be delivered here today,” said Irina Gerasimčik, 40, who works in college.
He said he was confident the new restrictions would encourage more people to get vaccinated against the coronavirus: “The sooner everyone gets vaccinated, the faster that nonsense will end.”
Jadvyga, an 83-year-old retiree who entered Kaunas “Akropolis”, was concerned that her daughter and girlfriend would not be able to go to supermarkets now, and the order itself was not that convenient, but she hoped it would help overcome the pandemic. . .
“Just to help … Maybe it’s good, a lot of illnesses, a lot of deaths, maybe it’s good that he tightens,” said the woman.
Critics: The order segregates
While most people already have a phone or a piece of paper with a QR code before heading to the store, not everyone rushing to shop in the morning has succeeded.
Supermarkets and other public spaces will close about 30 percent. adults unless tested for coronavirus for a fee.
A man who did not have a passport was not allowed to enter Mindaugas “Maxima” in Vilnius, so he returned to the car in return. The man did not want to speak to BNS.
Retired Janina Karmaza was not admitted to the Vilnius store.
“I didn’t go to the store, I didn’t let him in,” said the 80-year-old woman, “I forgot my passport at home, I’m going to pick it up.”
He said he thought these measures were redundant.
“It seems to me that the person himself knows that if he is sick, he has nowhere to go and is not needed. If I’m sick, I don’t go anywhere, I think others do the same, ”said J. Karzmaza.
“It just came to our attention then. (Beprotnamis – BNS)” – he resented Kastytis, 55, who had not been vaccinated and was not allowed to enter Kaunas “Akropolis”, calling the order stupid.
“How many stores will go bankrupt if everyone is questioned this way? Grandpa will come to buy milk and what? He won’t let me in!” He said.
As a result of the new order, two protests took place in just over a month. One of them, who went to the Seimas, ended in riots.
People who attended the rally were outraged that the passport of opportunity was a segregation tool, dividing people into two groups: the vaccinated and the unvaccinated.
According to them, by making living conditions more difficult, the government is forcing people to get vaccinated, although this should be a free choice.
A total of 4.7 thousand people died from coronavirus in Lithuania. more than 9.6 thousand people are currently sick. population, hospitals treat about 850 people.
Since the start of the pandemic, COVID-19 has affected more than 300,000 people in the country. people.
Authors: Augustas Stankevičius, Austėja Masiokaitė-Liubinienė
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