From the MT:
“Russian Vaccine Skeptics Rush
to Buy Fake Covid Jab Certificates”
Watching as Russia's drive to
vaccinate its citizens against coronavirus stumbled earlier this year, Sergei
had a hunch that authorities would eventually make inoculations mandatory. But
the 30-something in the southern Krasnodar region had no plans of getting a
jab. So he found a dealer online hawking fake vaccine certificates, sent his
personal details over encrypted messenger Telegram and transferred 15,000
rubles ($200, 175 euros). Three weeks
later, Sergei logged onto Russia's government services portal to find a
certificate showing he had received both doses of the country's homegrown
Sputnik V vaccine — without ever having been jabbed. Russia last August stoked
concerns over Sputnik V by registering the vaccine ahead of large-scale
clinical trials, but international experts have since declared it safe and
effective.
Many Russians are nonetheless
wary, with some 60% saying they do not plan to be inoculated, according to
independent polling. Sergei said he believes the jab has side effects, and
fears the vaccine is "experimental." "I don't want to die because of what the
government wants," Sergei said in an exchange on Telegram, showing AFP a
redacted screenshot of his personal government portal showing his vaccine
certificate. That sentiment has helped
foster a black market on Telegram and Russian darknet forums where dozens of
dealers are claiming to sell fake jab certificates and even falsified
registration on the government's vaccination database. While some clients
complain of being defrauded, others have left reviews saying everything went as
planned. And demand has only grown since
Sergei's hunch came true.
Mandatory vaccines Moscow
last week ordered mandatory vaccinations for service industry workers, after
only about a million of its 12 million residents got shots in the six months
they were available. A host of other Russian regions followed suit. Restaurant-goers
in Moscow will also need to show proof of vaccination or previous infection
starting from June 28, and further restrictive measures are expected as
authorities move from persuasion to coercion in a bid to get more Russians
vaccinated. Moscow authorities say the measures are working, with some
60,000 people per day —10 times more than before — now signing up for
vaccination appointments. But one
seller on a darknet forum, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that 20
to 30 orders for fake certificates were coming in daily. "I'm
getting asked to vaccinate whole companies," the seller boasted in an
exchange on Telegram. At the low end of the black market, Russians can
get a paper booklet certifying they were vaccinated for 2,000 rubles ($28, 23
euros). At the top end, for 30,000 rubles ($400, 350 euros) middlemen
say they can get a medical worker to pour out vaccine doses and upload
falsified medical records to the government portal.
'Jab down the drain' That's
hardly difficult to imagine, said Pavel Brand, the director of a chain of
family clinics in Moscow, pointing to doubts among Russia's medical workers
about vaccines. This spring, a
survey by the independent Levada Center showed that 31% of Russian doctors did
not trust Sputnik V and 23% did not plan to be inoculated against Covid. Authorities
are moving to crack down on the black market, with Moscow police opening two
dozen criminal cases into "the manufacture and sale of fictitious
certificates" and announcing three arrests this week. The black market is
just part of a much bigger problem that has seen only 16.2 million of Russia's
146 million people fully vaccinated — deep-seated distrust in the country's vaccine-producing
capabilities. Alexei, a 47-year-old IT professional who purchased a certificate
for a friend working in the service industry, said he and the friend are not
anti-vaxxers. "I would probably still prefer to be vaccinated, but with an
imported vaccine," he told AFP in an exchange on a darknet forum. Brand
said that sentiment stems from a broader belief that anything foreign-produced
— from an automobile to a vaccine — is likely to be better. Russia's
bureaucratic medical apparatus has also made people adept at finding
workarounds, he added, a legacy of a cumbersome Soviet system. The black market is only one way to get around
vaccinating, and there are other "much simpler" methods, said
Brand. "People just go to the clinic and give a
certain nurse money" to dispose of vaccine doses and make a false
registration, he said. The method — so
widespread in Russia that it is known as "jab down the drain" — has
been used for years by nurses with mothers hesitant to vaccinate their
children, Brand said. "With Covid,
I think it's happening en masse," he said.
^ This is not just a Covid issue
for Russians, but a Russian Societal issue. Russians have done these kinds of
things since the distrust of the official version of things started with the
Soviet Union in 1917 and continues today.
It is now a normal part of
Russian Society – to cut corners and do things under the table. Every Russian
has a friend who has a friend who has a friend, etc. that can get something
done.
I know many Russians that have
paid to take the Mandatory Theory and Practical Driver’s Education and Tests to
drive a vehicle yet they never once attended a class or even drove.
Or all the millions of Russian
men who, every year, pay for a Doctor’s Certificate to get out of serving the
Mandatory Military Service but they never have seen a Doctor or have any health
issues (of course that has more to do with not wanting to deal with the poor
conditions in the Russian Military – like the practice of Dedovshchina -
Russian: Дедовщина or Reign of Grandfathers - which is the hazing of Conscripts
including psychological abuse, lethal abuse and rape) and then being forced to
fight in: Georgia, Ukraine and Syria.
This kind of cutting official
corners or doing things on the sly to get around government rules and
restrictions also include very basic things like getting the Mandatory Medical
Certificate to go to a Gym (or Swimming Pool) without ever seeing a Doctor.
When I lived in Russia I wanted
to have something to do inside to relieve the stress of: surviving the Russian
Winter as well as all the hardships of living in Russia in general and so went
to the local Gym that also had a swimming pool. Someone I knew told me to give
them 1 Passport-sized picture of myself and some Rubles and the next day I had
the Mandatory Medical Certificate needed.
While I could use that to go to
the Gym it didn’t sit right with me so I made a real appointment with a Doctor
each time I needed to renew the Certificate.
I personally do not trust any of
the three officially-approved Russian Covid Vaccines. All the Government
secrecy (like Putin saying he got one, but never saying which one – it was
probably Pfizer or Moderna- or that one
of his daughters got the shot, but not saying which daughter – maybe it was
given to the daughter he didn’t like) has given ordinary Russians a valid
reason to not trust these vaccines.
I have talked with many Russian
friends, both inside Russia and outside of Russia, and feel sorry for them
about these forced Vaccines. Many are trying to go to an EU country and get a
“real” Covid Vaccine so they will be allowed to work, learn and live in Russia,
but that is very costly with travel and Visas. ^
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