Residents in Hoang Liet Ward, Hoang Mai District, Hanoi who refuse COVID-19 vaccination must sign a legal statement accepting responsibility for any plausible transmission they may cause in the future, local authorities confirmed.

The mandate was mentioned in an official document on COVID-19 vaccination released by Hoang Liet Ward officials on Tuesday.

The responsibility form will also allow ward authorities the opportunity to survey residents on their reasoning for refusing vaccination, said the ward leader, Ta Van Hai, in a discussion with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Wednesday.

“Everyone who transmits the disease must take responsibility," he said.

"Our directive is a non-issue.”

According to Dang Thanh Huyen, deputy head of the National Office for the Expanded Program on Immunization – the unit charged with Vietnam’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign, local authorities may coerce eligible residents in outbreak areas into taking the vaccine, as prescribed by the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Disease.

However, in the current scenario, local governments should only attempt to persuade residents to take the vaccine for the sake of public health and should refrain from exacting penalties.

During Vietnam’s mass vaccination drive, which started in March, the vast majority of the public has been willing to get vaccinated.

As of Wednesday, Hanoi had administered 4,687,618 out of the 5,359,676 COVID-19 vaccine doses so far received.

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