Russia’s QR Quagmire
“I checked my grandmother’s diaper, it was filthy. She had her oxygen mask up on her forehead. She has three bed sores, one on her knee, two on her hips.” — this is how Sergey Samborsky, a 27-year old welder from Siberia, described the state in which he found his grandmother after she was hospitalized with Covid-19 at the end of October. She died a few days later.
The covid situation in Russia is dire: this last year the overall death rate reached the numbers comparable to the World War II losses. Tens of thousands of Covid-19 cases are being registered daily, while vaccination rates remain at 41%, disappointing for a country that actually came up with the world’s first vaccine.
Like Samborsky’s case, Russia's pandemic story is filled with unbelievable human tragedy. It also illustrates what happens when there is no trust and respect between people and the authorities. “To stay alive, scum, get your Covid jabs,” is a vaccination slogan shared by a local municipality just outside Moscow on their Telegram channel. The response is equally dismissive and spiteful. Right now, thousands of people are refusing to go along with the government’s latest attempt to curb the pandemic — a QR-code system similar to the European “Green pass.”
The Moscow Duma first discussed the new restrictions about a month ago. But the government has since dragged its feet, allegedly testing people’s reaction. It could also be nervousness: according to Meduza the Kremlin is so fearful that QR-codes will cause mass protests that it is considering renaming them into something more “positive,” like “health pass.” But this wobbly attitude could in fact be making things worse.