Unable to stay out of the way, the Government and the Foreign Ministry said that Vietnam is currently studying the implementation of this “vaccine passport.” The vaccination information of Vietnamese citizens is also kept in the health records of the entire population, the international Covid-19 “vaccine passport”, managed by QR code. However, it can be seen that Vietnam’s attitude is cautious, reflected in the fact that so far, foreigners who have had a “vaccine passport” entering Vietnam still have to be centrally isolated for 14 days.
There is still a lot of controversy
According to Associate Professor Tran Dac Phu, Senior Advisor to the Vietnam Emergency Public Health Response Center and former Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health), the “vaccine passport” is mentioned much later, when many Countries have launched Immunization Campaigns. Recently, among the cases of entry into Vietnam, there are people who have this “vaccine passport”, but Vietnam has not yet changed its epidemic prevention policy.
Many people hope that the “vaccine passport” is a solution for the world to live with the pandemic, to reopen tourism. However, this issue remains controversial. The success of the “vaccine passport” depends on the effectiveness of the vaccine, something that we are not yet fully aware of, “said Mr. Phu.
For epidemiologists, there are many risks to consider. First of all, the Covid-19 vaccine is researched and licensed under emergency conditions, with many different types, so there are still problems that even scientists have not yet fully anticipated, such as: different vaccines have different protective effects ; It is not known how long the protective antibody remains in the body; or the person who has just been vaccinated has no immunity. Second, due to the problem of virus switching, the vaccine may no longer work. Third, the risk of fake passports.
Covid-19 differs a lot from its predecessor
According to Associate Professor Phu, previously, countries have also applied vaccination certification when traveling with some epidemics such as cholera, plague, yellow fever (circulating in Africa). The fact that not only Vietnam, but many countries in the world, on the one hand, consider the “vaccine passport” as a way out, on the one hand, is still very vigilant, because Covid-19 has created so many unprecedented precedents.
Mr. Tran Dac Phu said that each country, based on risk, benefit assessment and cooperation between the parties to be able to have a suitable application form, such as the “vaccine passport”, can be combined with SARS -CoV- 2 came back negative, shortened isolation time, or may not be able to start concentrated isolation, but isolate at home …
On November 11, Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Thi Thu Hang said that the implementation of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s leadership, the Foreign Ministry is coordinating with the Vietnamese authorities and representative offices in Vietnam. . Foreign countries will study and research and propose adjustments to immigration regulations to suit the evolving situation.
Recently, a group of scientists from the University of Oxford (UK) also published their research that the “vaccine passport” is only effective if it meets 12 criteria: achieve a certain level of immunity, solve the problem of different effectiveness between vaccines and the effectiveness of vaccines against virus variants, standardized on a global scale, defining the scope of application, guaranteeing information security. Individuals, complying with ethical and legal standards …, it means that there is still a short way for the world to move freely. In the short term, if there is more than nothing, the “vaccination passport” continues to be useful to a lesser extent, helping to attend to cases of need, since some countries have loosened the requirement of “passport holders” this.
Travel medical document
In early March, China officially launched the medical certification program to facilitate people’s domestic and international travel. Accordingly, this certification includes information on Covid-19 vaccination, test information, and the owner’s medical condition after recovery. It is unclear which countries will accept the above certification outside of China.
In the United States, airline and business associations are lobbying the government to develop a “vaccine passport” system. President Joe Biden signed a decree in January directing a committee to study the feasibility of the “vaccine passport,” but so far the White House has not released the results or publicly supported the idea, according to Fortune.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) announced on December 12 a series of new recommendations related to air traffic. Consequently, ICAO member countries may exempt vaccinated international passengers from testing or isolating, depending on the epidemic situation and the risk tolerance threshold in that country. However, the agency stressed that vaccination should not be a prerequisite for international travel.
Bao Vinh
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