Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said this is because Vietnam used vaccines approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) and had already recognized Malaysia's vaccination, the Malaysian National News Agency reported Tuesday.
"During my meeting with the Vietnamese Prime Minister (Pham Minh Chinh), I informed him that Malaysia has agreed to recognize Vietnam's vaccination certificate," Ismail Sabri was quoted as saying at a press conference for Malaysian journalists.
The Malaysian PM paid Vietnam a two-day visit on Sunday, marking the first time he has officially visited the country since taking office in August 2021.
Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Monday that Vietnamese vaccine certificates had been accepted by 17 countries as of March 17.
They are Australia, Belarus, Cambodia, Egypt, India, Japan, Maldives, New Zealand, Palestine, the Philippines, Saint Lucia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the U.K. and U.S.
People coming to Vietnam from these countries with vaccine certificates, and vice versa, will be treated as if they were vaccinated in the countries they enter.
Vietnam accepts vaccinations done in 79 countries and territories.
The national vaccine passport entails personal information like the types of vaccine given and the number of shots taken. They are encoded and encrypted into a QR code, which would expire after 12 months since creation.