Vietnam has been among more than 135 countries and territories whose full COVID-19 vaccination certificates, often called vaccine passports, have been recognized by the UK, according to an updated list by British authorities on Thursday.

The recognition came two days after an online talk between Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his British counterpart Boris Johnson concerning mutual recognition of their vaccine passports.

To qualify under the fully vaccinated rules for travel to the UK, people must have had a complete course of one of the four vaccines, including Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna and Janssen, at least 14 days before their arrival, according to a guidance published on the British government’s website.

The day of having the final dose does not count as one of the 14 days.

Other versions of these vaccines, such as AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Moderna Takeda, also qualify as approved vaccines.

A vaccine certificate must be issued by a national or state-level public health authority in English, French or Spanish, and provide the minimum information including the holder’s full names, date of birth, vaccine brand and manufacturer, date of vaccination for every dose, country or territory of vaccination and/or certificate issuer.

Fully vaccinated people must undergo a coronavirus test within two days after their entry and are subject to quarantine only when they get a positive test result.

People vaccinated with a two-dose vaccine (Moderna, Pfizer BioNTech, Oxford AstraZeneca, or a combination of them) must have had both doses to be considered fully vaccinated for travel to the UK.

This applies in all cases, even for people who have recently recovered from COVID-19 and have natural immunity.

Those who have caught COVID-19 and have only had one dose of a two-dose vaccine must follow the rules for unvaccinated arrivals.

Where two doses of a vaccine are required for a full course, people can mix two different types of the vaccine from the above-mentioned vaccines, for example Pfizer and Moderna, and have the two vaccinations under two different approved programs, for example Australia and Japan, the UK and the U.S., or France and Canada.

People with an approved one-dose vaccine (Janssen) are considered fully vaccinated.

Earlier on October 21, Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang announced temporary recognition of COVID-19 vaccination certificates issued by 72 countries and territories worldwide, including the UK.

“Vietnam’s vaccination certificate is currently recognized by a number of countries,” she added.

The UK is among countries that have donated COVID-19 vaccine to Vietnam, with 415,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines handed over by the British Embassy in Hanoi to Vietnam’s Ministry of Health on August 3.

Since erupting in Vietnam in early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused 910,376 COVID-19 cases, including 816,132 recoveries and 21,966 fatalities.

Recently, the Southeast Asian nation’s daily new infections and deaths have sharply fallen, to 4,899 and 56 on Friday from 7,940 and 159 a month earlier.

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