Press Release, 10.11.2021

Photo by IgorVetushko/depositphotos

Boris Vishnevsky, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg and Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko party, sent a number of questions to Oleg Ergashev, Vice-Governor of St.Petersburg, and Natalia Bashketova, head of the regional department of the Russian Federal State Agency for Health and Consumer Rights (Rospotrebnadzor), about plans for compulsory vaccination of St.Petersburg residents aged 60 and older, as well as those suffering from chronic diseases.

In particular, Vishnevsky asks how the requirement of mandatory vaccination is consistent with the Federal Law “On the Basics of Health Protection of Citizens”, which provides for the exclusively voluntary consent of a citizen to any medical intervention, and how exactly it is supposed to ensure the mandatory vaccination.

In addition, Boris Vishnevsky asks to clarify whether citizens will have a real choice of vaccines, without any restrictions, and why, instead of convincing citizens to vaccinate and create all conditions to simplify the procedure, the city authorities are following the path of prohibitions and restrictions.

“Let us put the accents: I myself got sick and got vaccinated six months later, and I constantly urge citizens to vaccinate so as not to endanger themselves, their loved ones and other people. And also in order to reduce the severity of the course of the disease, if it does happen,” Boris Vishnevsky notes.

“The state should convince and explain, rather than order. And [the state must] provide conditions: for vaccinations to be available, so that they can be done quickly and easily, not far from home, and without a long search. But they either do not know how to do this, or do not want to, they prefer to order, indicate and punish,” Vishnevsky adds.

It should be noted that by the decree of the chief state sanitary doctor for the city of St. Petersburg dated 9 November, the list of categories of citizens subject to compulsory vaccination against a new coronavirus infection was supplemented by persons aged 60 years and older, as well as persons with chronic diseases, including diseases of the bronchopulmonary system, cardiovascular system and endocrine system. The press service of the Rospotrebnadzor Office for St. Petersburg states that “if a citizen is unemployed, the issue of vaccination is at his/her own discretion, in the case of working citizens, the employer is the person responsible for the vaccination of the employees”.