COVID-19 vaccine passport officially introduced

The Ministry of Health has announced procedures for the issuance of Vietnam’s official COVID-19 'vaccine passport’ along with passport templates effective from December 20, 2021. Besides, the ministry also issues COVID-19 vaccine certificates for people who have received the primary course of one of eight types of COVID-19 vaccines licensed for use in Vietnam.

According to the ministry, the issuance of the vaccine passport is applied uniformly across vaccination sites in the country, following three-step procedures.

First, vaccination sites are asked to review and verify the information of people to whom they have administered vaccines.

Second, vaccination sites will conduct ‘digital signing’ of vaccination records on the national platform for COVID-19 vaccination management used by health authorities, which will share its data with the management system for certification of vaccinations against COVID-19.

Third, the Department of Preventive Medicine under the ministry digitally signs the COVID-19 vaccine certificates. The certificates are then issued using QR codes in accordance with EU regulatory standards.

The QR code-based passport will be valid for 12 months./.

VNA