Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced criteria for the recognition of foreign coronavirus immunization certificates, also known as vaccine passports, following the country’s recent temporary acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination records issued by 72 countries and territories worldwide.

Vietnam currently accepts COVID-19 vaccines authorized by the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), or those approved by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health for emergency use, deputy spokesperson of the foreign affairs ministry Pham Thu Hang said at a regular press conference held virtually on Thursday.

Vaccine passports must be issued in both paper and electronic forms and carry an authentication code.

Countries and territories issuing such passports must have a high COVID-19 safety level and a widespread vaccination rate.

With such vaccine passports, foreigners entering Vietnam will be permitted to have their time at concentrated quarantine sites cut from 14 to seven days, in line with the Ministry of Health’s guidelines for fully-vaccinated people or those who have recovered from COVID-19, Hang said.

The list of these nations and territories having officially introduced their vaccine passport forms to Vietnam is regularly updated on the foreign ministry’s portal for consular work.

Citizens from countries and territories that have not presented the forms of their vaccine certificates or proof of COVID-19 recovery to Vietnam may contact Vietnamese representative missions in their own countries to legalize or certify these documents, Hang said.

The deputy spokesperson also told reporters that four countries have officially recognized Vietnam’s vaccine passports, including the U.S., the UK, Japan, and Belarus.

The four countries made their recognition in early November, indicating specific standards regarding the vaccine types, Hang said.

On October 21, the diplomat announced Vietnam’s temporary recognition of vaccine passports issued by 72 countries and territories and said the foreign ministry was discussing the mutual recognition of vaccine passports with nearly 80 partners.

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