Onishchenko said that a ban on the sale of alcohol without QR codes in Russia is unlikely to work 
A ban on the sale of alcohol without a QR code will not bring much effect, said the former chief sanitary doctor of Russia Gennady Onishchenko. Such a measure could work on a very small contingent of people, he said. Onishchenko shared his opinion in a conversation with Lenta.ru.
Earlier it became known that the Sverdlovsk authorities are considering a ban on the sale of alcohol without a QR code confirming the fact of vaccination against coronavirus or a previous illness. It is clarified that the initiative belongs to the Ural restaurateur Evgeny Uryupin. It was he who suggested that the local government introduce such a system, since he believes that this will speed up the vaccination process in the Sverdlovsk region. In his opinion, this measure can be much more effective than QR codes in public catering.
Alcohol as a reward?
On the one hand, the ban on the sale of alcohol without a QR code will reduce accessibility, said the country's former chief sanitary doctor. However, this will be an insignificant decrease in the availability of such products. On the other hand, the use of such a measure looks like encouraging the use of alcohol, raising it to the rank of some kind of bonus and privilege, Onishchenko noted.
“It will stop someone. So far he does not want to be vaccinated, but he wants to drink, but he is not given. This limits the use of alcohol, under the pretext of protecting against coronavirus infection. Any obstacle in the way of a person, in this case buying a bottle of alcohol that will make him vaccinate, is good. But here, I think, there is an underestimation or, more precisely, not knowing the real situation. Thank God, young people now drink less. If I am neutral about alcohol, then prohibit it as much as you like, I still do not drink it. Thank God, we have more and more such contingent. But we also have those who use, it happened historically. Such a person will go to a neighbor who has a QR code and ask him to buy this bottle. Therefore, such a measure is of little significance from the point of view of efficiency, “Onishchenko believes.
He added that such a measure is unlikely to be extended to other regions. “We have two constituent entities of the Russian Federation, Chechnya and Ingushetia, which, according to official statistics, report zero alcohol consumption. Sale is simply prohibited there. For these regions, such a measure will play absolutely no role. Of course, there are regions where alcohol consumption is at a high level, these are primarily the northern regions, there may be some effect, “the former sanitary doctor of the country reasoned.
Onishchenko noted that a ban in Moscow selling alcohol to individuals without QR codes can also work. But he added that this will not bring tangible results in terms of vaccination.
Summing up, Onishchenko said that the measure is to some extent positive. According to him, if it works for at least a dozen people, and they go and get grafted, it can already be considered successful.
On November 10, it became known that residents of the Sverdlovsk region were allowed to enter the shopping center not only by QR -code and passport, but also a number of other identity documents. In particular, with a driver's license.