Vietnam adds six countries to vaccine passport acceptance list

By Viet Anh   December 9, 2021 | 06:00 am PT
Vietnam is accepting vaccine passports from 78 countries and territories, and it is part of a similar list in five countries.

"Vietnam has temporarily recognized vaccination certificates from 78 countries and territories," foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang confirmed at a press briefing.

The ministry earlier had named 72 countries and territories in the acceptance list. The six new countries announced Thursday are Canada, Iran, Iraq, Maldives, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

A passenger is at Noi Bai Airport, Hanoi, October 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy

A passenger at the Noi Bai Airport, Hanoi, October 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy

On countries that recognize Vietnam's vaccine passport, Hang said Australia joined the group, which also includes the U.S., the U.K., Japan and Belarus.

Hang noted that Vietnamese authorities have acted urgently to complete software solutions to quickly issue the vaccine passports form according to international standards.

Canada has agreed in principle, while members of the ASEAN bloc and the European Union, China and South Korea are still in the process of reviewing and waiting for Vietnam to come up with a consistent vaccine passport template, she said.

Responding to the question about the high demand among Vietnamese living abroad to visit Vietnam at the time of Tet, the Lunar New Year festival, Hang said the demand could be partly met if the government approves the suggestion of the Ministry of Transport to allow international flights to resume on nine routes from December 15.

The foreign ministry is continuing to cooperate with related parties to repatriate Vietnamese citizens from different locations in the world, based on their need, pandemic development and Vietnam's quarantine capacity, she added.

So far, nearly 200,000 Vietnamese have been brought back from 60 countries and territories on 800 repatriation flights.

 
 
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