Vietnam needs to win “race” to open doors safely post-COVID-19

Nguyen Thi Huong Lan, Director of the Consular Department at MoFA (Photo: vietnamplus

Hanoi (VNA) - The Government has assigned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to coordinate with relevant ministries and units in developing the Vaccine Passport programme. To demonstrate its “leadership” role, the ministry has been promoting a series of important and appropriate steps to quickly put vaccine passports into effect, including the development of a set of criteria on their recognition and use in Vietnam, approved by the Prime Minister.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong Lan, Director of the Consular Department at MoFA, said vaccine passports, or vaccination certificates, are being used to ensure safer travel.

A vaccine passport holder is understood to have been fully vaccinated, with the last dose being at least 14 days but no more than 12 months prior to the date of travel.

MoFA has coordinated with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ministry of Information and Communications to develop criteria and mechanisms for recognizing foreign vaccine passports in Vietnam.

The criteria have been approved by the Government and are being used as a basis for negotiating the mutual recognition of vaccine passports with other countries and territories.

Lan said that this mutual recognition is key to opening the door to the world, relaxing entry restrictions, resuming regular international commercial flights, and restoring the tourism, travel, and hotel sectors.

“The current trend globally is to adjust immigration and quarantine policies to give priority to vaccine passport holders,” she said. “Vaccine passport holders from pandemic areas will enjoy exemptions from quarantine or be quarantined for a shorter period of time and undergo fewer tests. Vietnam cannot remain outside of this. Many of our industries and services need to be reconnected to the world. Safe travel is the lifeline of our economy.”

Last month, Van Don International Airport in Quang Ninh province welcomed three flights carrying passengers eligible for the MoH’s pilot vaccine passport program.

The positive knock-on effects of vaccine passports include a revival of the travel and hotel industries, contributing to marking Vietnam’s transition from a “Zero COVID” strategy to one of adapting to the situation, living safely with the virus on the basis of high vaccination coverage.

Time is needed to gauge the results of the pilot programme but it offers hope that all international air routes and destinations will reopen in the near future. The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has proposed that the Ministry of Transport allow airlines to resume international flights in the fourth quarter of this year.

The progress so far is the result of the entire country’s efforts to control the pandemic while recovering socio-economic activities. With a high vaccination rate, a remarkable decline in the number of new COVID-19 cases, and a strategic shift from a Zero-COVID strategy to living with the pandemic safely and flexibly, Vietnam is believed to be on the right track to reach the “new normal”.

More than 77 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered around the country, or half of the targeted 150 million doses needed to cover 75 per cent of the adult population.

The MoH has aimed for at least 80 per cent of people over 65 years old to have had a second dose by October and 80 per cent of people over 50 by November.

With such efforts, it’s expected that Vietnam, the region, and the world will soon enjoy the “new normal” together. Welcome back Vietnam! Welcome back world!/.