Việt Nam's digital COVID-19 vaccine passport. — VNA/VNS Infographic.

BRUSSEL — The European Commission (EC) has recognised the digital COVID-19 certificates of Việt Nam, Indonesia, and Seychelles as equivalent to the EU COVID Certificates issued by authorities in EU countries.

These three countries will therefore be connected to the EU system and the EU will accept their COVID-19 certificates under the same conditions as its own Digital COVID Certificate. This means that passengers from the three countries will be permitted to enter the bloc under the same rules as those who hold EU Digital COVID-19 certificates.

At the same time, all three countries have decided to accept the EU Digital COVID-19 certificates.

With the accession of Việt Nam, Indonesia and Seychelles, the number of countries and territories connected to the EU system has increased to 67, said European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders.

He also expressed his delight that the pandemic situation is improving and the certificate remains a useful tool for many destinations, for example, in case of testing requirements.

According to the announcement published by the EC, the decision will take effect starting from May 11, 2022.

Also with regards to COVID-19 vaccine passports, the health ministry has asked relevant authorities to ‘clean up’ the vaccination database before June 1, 2022, to ensure that all people are eligible for vaccine passports.

The health ministry said it has also reached a consensus with the public security ministry on the clean-up protocol, including the cross-referencing of the list of COVID-19 vaccine recipients with missing/inaccurate identification card number, or missing/inaccurate basic information (name, date of birth, gender) with the national population database.

Việt Nam to date has administered a total of 215.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with over 96 per cent of the population aged 12 years and older having been fully vaccinated.

The inoculation campaign for children aged 5-11 is underway, with 1.88 million first doses administered so far. — VNS