Gov’t agrees on criteria for use of vaccine passports in Vietnam: Spokeswoman

Leaders of the Vietnamese Government have agreed on a set of criteria for the recognition and use of other countries' vaccine passports in Vietnam as proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, its spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said at a regular press conference via videoconference on October 7.

At Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi. (Photo: VNA)

Hang said one of the important contents in the set of criteria is types of vaccines. Accordingly, Vietnam accepts vaccines licenced by the World Health Organisation, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), or the European Medicines Agency as well as those approved by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health for emergency use.

Amid complicated and long-term developments of the COVID-19 pandemic which cannot be absolutely controlled, the Vietnamese Government agreed to change from the policy of zero COVID-19 to safely and flexibly adapting to and effectively controlling the pandemic, she said.

The spokeswoman said that in the process of effectively fighting the pandemic and restoring socio-economic development, vaccine passports, health green cards or digital health certificates are considered feasible solutions to gradually reopening the economy, especially services and tourism.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is working closely with relevant agencies to study and build a pilot plan to welcome back vaccinated tourists to Vietnam, firstly in the southern island city of Phu Quoc in the near future, she added.

Regarding the development of COVID-19 treatment medicines, the spokeswoman said medicines and vaccines are defined as decisive measures to control and safely adapt to the pandemic. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs directed Vietnamese representative agencies abroad to study the development of COVID-19 treatment medicines in the world and assist the Ministry of Health in accessing potential medicines to consider research and pilot use in Vietnam.

The access, import and cooperation in production of COVID-19 medicines are one of the key tasks by the Government’s working group on vaccine diplomacy, which will continue to be stepped up in the near future, she said.