A foreign visitor shows her passport to an official at the Nội Bài International Airport. — Photo vtv.vn 

HÀ NỘI — The pilot programme on granting digital COVID-19 vaccine passports at three major hospitals in Hà Nội - Bạch Mai, National Cancer Hospital and E Hospital - is operating smoothly, said an official from the Ministry of Health.

Speaking at a meeting on Tuesday, Nguyễn Bá Hùng, Deputy Director of the Medical Data Centre, said that after a week of piloting, the national vaccination system had responded well to the issuance of digital vaccine passports.

“It is expected that the ministry will hold a meeting to launch the project nationwide next week,” he said.

Under the pilot programme, people who receive COVID-19 vaccines at the three hospitals will have their vaccination information updated to the national vaccination database.

To get a digital vaccine passport, people must declare accurate information. Vaccination agencies will review the information and connect it to the national population database for authentication.

The digital vaccine passport form. — Photo vnexpress.net

The vaccine passport will contain personal information, including the types of vaccines administered and the number of doses given. The information is encoded and encrypted into a QR code, which expires 12 months after it is created.

Everyone who has been vaccinated and has information on the vaccination management platform will be given a QR code displayed on the PC Covid or the “Sổ Sức Khỏe Điện Tử” (Electronic Health Book) applications for checking when going abroad.

Hùng said that last December, the Health Ministry issued a decision on the template and procedures for issuing vaccine passports that would make it more convenient for people to travel and do business, especially since Việt Nam reached an agreement on mutual agreement recognition of vaccine passports with 17 countries.

As of March 22, more than 202 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered across the country.

Information about more than 193 million doses, accounting for 96 per cent of the total, has been updated on the vaccination management platform. — VNS