Deploying “Vaccine Passport” in Vietnam: safety first

Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control Vu Duc Dam on March 19 hosted a meeting with representatives from ministries and departments to discuss solutions to implement the “Covid-19 vaccine passport” scheme while ensuring the principle of “safety first”.  

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, Head of the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control chaired the meeting on “Covid-19 Vaccine Passport” on March 19 in Hanoi.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Luu The Anh, Deputy Director of Medical Solution Center, Viettel Enterprise Solutions Corporation, said that Viettel is closely coordinating with the Ministry of Health and relevant authorities to review and carry out the “Covid-19 vaccine passport” scheme in Vietnam.

According to the Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, the vaccine passport is a certificate of complete vaccination against Covid-19, which is regulated by the Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases and the International Health Quarantine Regulation. Owners of “Vaccine Passport” do not have to undergo quarantine or Covid-19 test when going abroad (some countries still require a testing).

Currently, Vietnam is working with countries around the world on the acceptance of “vaccine passport” through QR-code. When going abroad, people’s information will be verified when scanning the QR code.

Once the “Covid-19 vaccine passport” scheme is implemented, people need to bring their citizen identification card or provide their health insurance number to verify personal information when conducting Covid-19 vaccination.

When getting vaccinated, people have to download a “health care app” from Apple Store or Google Play in the smart phones; sign in the app by giving the personal information to get their own QR codes. After two injections, the relevant information is recorded on the QR code.

The meeting focused in the preparation of technical and policy solutions to implement the “Covid-19 vaccine passport”

The Minister also put forth the initiative to integrate health records and health insurance number into citizenship identification cards.

In addition, technical infrastructure for receiving foreign bearers of vaccine passport to Vietnam is expected to be completed and ready for use from April.

The Ministry of Health continues to work with foreign health agencies to facilitate trade activities and travel for those who have been vaccinated.

According to the report of the Ministry of Health, as of 11am on March 19, the world recorded nearly 122 million infections of Covid-19, of which, more than 2.69 million deaths in 221 countries and territories.