Vietnam Plans To Receive 40 000 International Visitors With Vaccine Passports
Vietnam planned to receive international tourists with vaccine passports in the Mekong Delta Province of
HCMC - The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is compiling a plan to receive international tourists holding vaccine passports to Phu Quoc Island, Kien Giang Province.
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung said on June 24 that the plan must meet requirements on safety and Covid-19 infection prevention and control.
According to the Government Office, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Kien Giang Province should submit the vaccine passport pilot plan to the prime minister in July.
The Ministry of Health was asked to collaborate with relevant agencies to make plans for allowing international tourists holding vaccine passports to some tourist attractions that are able to control the pandemic.
At a meeting in early April, the national steering committee for Covid-19 infection prevention and control proposed that three groups of people be allowed to enter Vietnam with vaccine passports.
The first group will comprise Vietnamese citizens who are stranded in foreign countries and have been injected with the Covid-19 vaccine. The Ministry of Health is in charge of providing specific guidance on quarantining and monitoring arrivals from different countries. This group would also comprise Vietnamese investors coming back to the country after travelling abroad to seek investment opportunities.
The second group will consist of foreigners coming to Vietnam to do business. The Ministry of Health will decide the protocol for testing, quarantine and medical monitoring based on the entrants’ nationalities and the types of vaccines they are injected with.
The third group will be international tourists. The Ministry of Health has been asked to work with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to draw up plans to open the tourism market to international tourists.
A vaccine passport or a green pass is a document or app that stores personal information, identity cards, or passports and medical data such as a Covid-19 test result, proof of vaccination and a health certificate.
Using digital vaccine passports will restrict the falsification of certificates, help competent agencies easily scan the passports via QR codes and ensure information security for passengers.
Many countries have rolled out Covid-19 vaccine passports. For example, China has issued paper vaccine passports and electronic ones that can be scanned via QR codes, while Hungary has given vaccine passports to those who have made a full recovery and got two shots of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Israel has adopted the policy of a vaccine green pass since February 21. Israelis can download an app called the green pass after vaccination to gain access to venues and events.