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Below are references used in my writing about the Covid Pass. Included are links to: laws and official sources (both for Lithuania and other countries), quotes, news articles, company policies and information, statistics.
Twitter's format doesn't allow enough space to list these dozens of references, so I made this separate page.
I've tried to be scrupulous in reporting the Covid Pass rules. But the rules are convoluted and are changed frequently. If you find any inaccuracies - or something which I should include but didn't - please email me to let me know.
Several sources I cite have been changed when they've drawn increased attention.
I have screenshots in case any references are deleted or modified. Please let me know if a link no longer works, and I will replace with screenshots of the original source.
I oppose the Covid Pass regime. In my writing, I frequenty cite people who promote the Covid Pass - bureaucrats, politicians, media - to illustrate my points. So this list of references I used in my writing contains many supporters of the Pass.
I'd like to emphasize that although I deeply disagree with these Pass proponents, I believe that they are all good people.
There are evil characters in every cause - including among people who oppose the Covid Pass as I do. But I believe that the vast, vast majority of supporters of the Pass - including the people cited in this reference list - have good intentions: they believe that increasing the Covid vaccination rate among the population is urgently important, and that the Covid Pass is a vital tool to achieve this goal.
I believe that their zeal has closed their eyes to the authoritarianism, segregation, and hate which they are creating. Their motives are admirable - safety, health - but the policies imposed have sacrificed freedom and unleashed forces which we thought our modern times had finally banished: segregation, hate, othering, authoritarianism. The policies become increasingly worse as they move from wrong to wrong in order to deflect from the inherent immorality. The descent into authoritarianism doesn't necessarily come wrapped with cartoonish evil dictators; people with good intentions but limited understanding can be more dangerous than people with the most ill will.
My request to people who support my position and want to stop the Covid Pass regime: please treat supporters of the Pass with respect. In particular, if you contact the people listed here, please treat them with respect.
I don't agree with their policies. I think that their statements of hate and othering in many cases are repugnant. But I think they truly believe they are pursuing what they think is good for society, and I don't have ill will towards them personally. No matter how much they wish to punish me, ban me, cast me out of society... I don't believe the solution is to hate back. Hate destroys and tears down; love creates and builds up. Love transforms with redemptive power. So let's love our neighbors, no matter what views they are expressing now. Let's recognize the humanity that unites us all. Let's work to help everyone remember that we're all together in one society, and we need to unite together - as one society - to stop this madness before it's too late.
Finally, for anyone reporting on this information: please feel free to email me if I can help you in any way. This is an open offer for everyone - professional journalists, citizens journalists, podcasters, bloggers, anyone who's at all interested.
Ways I've helped others so far: help to get additional information about Lithuania's Covid Pass regime, including verification of all the restrictions, translation help, further insight into the details of daily life, statistics, locations of venues photographed in my writing.
It's important to be accurate when writing about the Covid Pass regime. The authoritarianism and segregation of the Covid Pass regime are already stark in their reality; there is no need to exaggerate the effects. So I'm glad to help people in order to report accurately.
I also recognize that it can be both time-consuming and confusing to get correct information. There are many rules, they change frequently, and different government agencies disagree with each other about the interpretation and implementation. There are also frequent errors in mainstream media reporting - both unintentional errors, as well as deliberate bias resulting from the media's explicitly-stated goal of supporting the government's Covid Pass regime and surpressing opposition.
So I'm happy to give any help I can to anyone interested in order to be factually accurate.
Contact:
You can verify on the official websites of our government every rule which I describe. The official law and full details are in the Lithuanian language, but the government created English-language pages which have descriptions of the main restrictions:
The Health Ministry main page.
The coronavirus page of the Health Ministry.
The Health Ministry's official description in English of Covid restrictions. For the details of the Covid Pass, look under "National Certificate (Covid Passport)." For the restrictions against people without the Covid Pass, look under the heading "Additional measures to manage the pandemic as of 13 September".
The official government website about the Opportunity Pass. The site is made by the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation.
FAQ about Covid restrictions, made by the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation.
The state of emergency declaration of 26-Feb-20. The temporary law has been updated and modified numerous times in the last 19 months, including with the current Covid Pass restrictions. The most recent version of the law is effective from 13-Sep-21 to 15-Oct-21. The official version is in Lithuanian. The PDF in the link above is an unofficial English-language translation posted by the Ministry of Health.
"Number of police officers at the end of the year": at end of 2020, there were a total of 7849 police officers
So, 200 officers = 2.5% of the country's entire police force was sent on one day to shopping centers and supermarkets to enforce the Pass
Population, Oct-21: 2.78mln
WHO Special Envoy for Europe, Mar/2020-present. EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety 2014-2019. Health Minister of Lithuania 2012-2014. Lithuanian Parliament 1992-2004, 2008-2012.
19-Oct-21:
Minster of Economy and Innovation, 2020-present. Head of Lithuania's Opportunity Pass (Covid Pass), 2021-present. Chairperson of the Freedom Party, 2019-present. Member of Parliament, 2016-present.
5-Oct-21:
27-Sep-21:
11-Jun-21:
Deputy Minister of Health
8-Sep-21:
Minister of Health, 2020-present. Auditor General of Lithuania, 2015-2020.
4-Aug-21:
Member of European Parliament 2019-present. Lithuanian Parliament 1996-2019. Minster of Defense 2008-2012.
16-Jul-21:
Spokesperson, Ministry of Health of Lithuania
18-Oct-21:
Senior Healthcare Advisor to Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte
31-Oct-21:
4-Oct-21: [] ()
Prime Minster of Lithuania, 1999-2000 and 2008-2012. European Parliament 2019-present.
25-Aug-21:
10-Aug-21:
Minister of Foreign Affairs
28-Oct-21:
20-Oct-21:
Leader of the Lithuanian independence movement which successfully won independence from the USSR. First Head of State of independent Lithuania. Head of Parliament of Lithuania 1990-1992, 1996-2000. Member of European Parliament 2003-2014. Currently professor emeritus. Grandfather of Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania's current Minster of Foreign Affairs.
3-Oct-21:
Head of Laboratory of Biothermodynamics and Drug Design Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius university. 19-Sep-21:
20-May-21:
Official announcement of the Opportunity Pass (Covid Pass)
Minister of Social Security and Labour 2020-present. Lithuanian Parliament 2016-present.
16-Oct-21:
Mayor of Lithuania's capital city, Vilnius, 2015-present. Lithuanian Parliament 2012-2015. Minister of Justice of Lithuania 2008-2012.
21-Oct-21:
Vice Minister of Health
01-Sep-21:
Prime Minister of Lithuania, 2020-present.
21-Sep-21: [] ()
15-Oct-21:
Economist. Head of the Lithuanian Retailers' Association. 18-Sep-21:
The list I reference was updated 28-Oct-21 at 10:40:
44 stations require the Opportunity Pass out of 127 stations in total =36%
The list I reference was updated 27-Oct-21 at 08:54:
35 (=43%): Gas stations which only serve with opportunities for passport
33 (=40%): Gas stations which serve in the shop only with a passport or through the box without a chance of the passport
14 (=17%): Gas stations which serve without a passport by limiting the number of customers in the store
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Announcement by Lidl on 20-Oct-21 that it will ban people without a Covid Pass.
Post by Ausra Budrikiene, 25-Oct-21, CEO of Camelia parent group UAB Nemuno vaistine, regarding the effects of the government's mid-Oct tightening of Covid Pass law
Announcement requiring the Covid Pass for all in-person services in city offices
Official library website
Library's Instagram post: "From 13 September, the visitor service changes. Visitors without an Opportunity Pass [Covid Pass] can only check out and return books at a specially arranged point. The service time per user at the service point is no more than 15 minutes."
18-Oct-21:
13-Sep-21: Cafes, restaurants: confusion and fines over Covid policy on Pass and masks
15-Sep-21: Covid Pass on home screen of phone
19-Oct-21: Boosters.
23-Oct-21: Police raid. Article published in all major media outlets.
15-Oct-21:
18-Oct-21:
19-Oct-21:
Lithuanian article, date shown as published: 20-Oct-21
Shorter English article, date shown as published: 26-Oct-21
The English article is a shortened form of the original Lithuanian. It leaves out many sections of the Lithuanian article, most notably the paragraphs of discussion of if and how my writing can be criminalized, prosecuted, and/or censored.
Translation into English of LRT's 20-Oct-21 Lithuanian article.
Several people have emailed me for help with translation of the original Lithuanian article about me. To save you time, this link has a translation.
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