Citizens Unexpectedly Find Themselves Between Two Fires: No Passport, No Vaccination

Citizens have unexpectedly found themselves once again caught between two fires. As previously reported, there has been a problem with the issuance of passports in the republic recently.

“Currently, due to the coronavirus pandemic, issues have arisen regarding the supply of passports, which is why passports are not being issued to citizens,” the police press service told NEWS.am today.

The deadlines for restoring the issuance of passports are not provided. Passport offices advise individuals to come after September 20.

However, this issue pertains not only to those wishing to leave the country or take out loans. Under the initiative of the Ministry of Health, the government of Armenia is literally forcing working citizens to get vaccinated or present a negative test every two weeks. The deadline is October 1, after which penalties against employers will begin.

Here’s where it gets interesting: without a passport, it is impossible to get vaccinated. If one has an ID, they can take a test. Passport offices shrug their shoulders and recommend obtaining an identification card. However, while a regular passport is issued for free (the fee is only in the form of a state duty of 1,000 drams), the ID costs three times more.

This means that such a deficit is quite beneficial for the state. By obliging people to get vaccinated, the state does not provide opportunities for it.

If, after September 20, the acceptance of applications for obtaining passports indeed starts, then most of those who applied before October 1 will not have enough time to receive them. Furthermore, the queues at passport offices are even terrifying to imagine, partly because it will be difficult to avoid infection in densely populated areas.