Issuance of "vaccine passports" to citizens set to start as from April 15

The Ministry of Health held an online conference on April 4 to guide the issuance of "vaccine passports" and to thoroughly authenticate COVID-19 vaccination information nationwide.

According to information given by the Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan, the nation’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has reached a very high level both regionally and globally, with Vietnam currently one of the six countries boasting the highest vaccination coverage rate in the world.

Data on the COVID-19 vaccination portal indicates that as of April 1, more than 206 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. The coverage rate of COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 18 years and above with the first shot stands at nearly 100%, the second dose at 99%, whilst those who have received the third dose is at around 50%.

The Ministry of Health and localities nationwide are also prepared to conduct vaccination for children from five to under 12 years old in early April.

The Ministry of Health has co-ordinated efforts alongside the Ministry of Information and Communications and related units to build functions on the COVID-19 Vaccination Management Platform and related systems for digital signature and issuance of vaccine passports. At present, the systems are now ready for the issuance of vaccine passports for citizens.

People will be unable to get their vaccine passports in the event that their vaccination information is wrong or they’re not fully vaccinated, Do Truong Duy, director of the Information Technology Department under the Ministry of Health said. As a result, people should re-check their vaccination information to report errors.

The nation’s vaccine passport entails information like one's name, date of birth, the disease which they're vaccinated against, the number of shots received, and the date of vaccination. Data will be encoded into a QR code.

The QR code will expire after 12 months. Following their expiry, people will be notified and a new QR code will then be created.

According to Duy, preparation for the issuance of "vaccine passports" has basically been completed. Vaccinated people with the correct declaration of information have been updated to the system by vaccination facilities as a way of authenticating correct information regarding vaccine passports with the National Population Database without having to carry out any more formalities.

Immunization facilities across the country have prepared the necessary conditions, digitally signed the certificate of COVID-19 vaccination starting from April 8, making it possible for the Ministry of Health to issue "vaccine passports" from April 15.