Pilots must have two Covid vaccine shots to fly, aviation authority says

By Minh Nga July 18, 2021 | 07:59 pm PT

Foreign pilots of an airline in Vietnam. Photo by VnExpress/Anh Duy.

Only pilots fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus can fly, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has decided.

This and other mandatory measures for safety amid Covid-19 are in a new directive that will take effect in September.

It has instructed its flight safety standards division to study the Covid-19 Contingency Related Differences (CCRD) of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and issue instructions on granting the ICAO’s Targeted Exemption within a month.

It requires all airlines to strictly adhere to Covid-19 preventive rules, and wants vaccination to be prioritized for frontline workers like pilots, flight attendants and technical engineers, who are in regular contact with passengers.

The CAAV said as of last year Vietnam had 2,438 pilots of whom 1,223 are foreigners.

The nation of 96 million has so far vaccinated more than 4.28 million of its citizens against Covid-19 though only 306,475 have got two shots.