Georgia to introduce Covid passes, pensioners to receive bonuses for vaccination

‘Green’ vaccination passes to be introduced in Georgia

From December 1, the so-called ‘green’ passports, proving full vaccination, negative PCR test taken within the last 72 hours, antigen test taken within the last 24 hours, or a certificate of recovery from coronavirus. On top of that, pensioners vaccinated against coronavirus before January 1 will receive a 200 GEL (approximately $ 60) bonus.

These decisions were announced by the Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili.

As the prime minister noted, unlike other countries, those who have recovered from coronavirus can use the “green passport” indefinitely.

What does the ‘green’ pass mean?

From December 1, citizens will only be able to visit various objects only by presenting a green passport, in particular:

● Food facilities;
● Cinemas, operas, museums;
● Entertainment centers;
● Gambling spots.

It should be noted that the requirement will only apply to guests of the facilities and not to working staff. The presence of a “green passport” will be mandatory for citizens and tourists over 18 years old.

Bonus payment of 200 GEL for vaccinated pensioners

From now on, every pensioner who will gets vaccinated before January 1 will receive a one-time pension bonus in the amount of 200 GEL. The supplement is dispensed after the first vaccination.

“Vaccination will not be mandatory”

According to Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, vaccination will not become mandatory in Georgia.

“Vaccination will not be compulsory in our country, this is our firm decision and we will not change it. We must explain to citizens that vaccination is actually the solution to ending the pandemic, and we must explain that vaccination protects our lives. This is the most important argument that we must communicate to our citizens, family members”, Garibashvili said.

• Almost 99% of those who died of Covid-19 in Georgia between March – September were not vaccinated
• Church and Pfizer: Georgia’s vaccine campaign fails
• Approximately 17,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine expired in Georgia
  

Vaccination against coronavirus in Georgia began on March 15.
Vaccinations in the country are mainly carried out with the use of four vaccines – the German-American Pfizer, the British AstraZeneca and the Chinese Sinopharm (Beijing) and Sinovac.

As Gamkrelidze explains, unlike AstraZeneca and Pfizer, Chinese-made vaccines have a shelf life of 2-3 years. In addition, a month ago, Pfizer decided to extend the shelf life of all Pfizer vaccines stored at minus 60-90 degrees Celsius by three months.

As of November 4, 1,990,501 vaccinations have been administered in Georgia. Of these, 1,041,751 people (36.7% of the adult population) have been vaccinated with the first dose and only 33.1% of the adult population (946,395) are fully vaccinated. In total, 3,469 people have been vaccinated over the past day.

On November 4, 5206 new cases of coronavirus were registered in Georgia, 53 people died.

On November 8, 2,191 new cases of coronavirus infection were registered in Georgia, another 72 people died.