Repatriated Vietnamese citizens at Vân Đồn International Airport in Quảng Ninh Province wait to process their entry papers after landing in August 2020. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The northern province of Quảng Ninh has been selected as the location to pilot a seven-day quarantine policy for foreign arrivals that have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 starting this July, according to a health ministry decision issued on Saturday.

They will need to introduce proof of vaccination, with the types of vaccines approved by World Health Organisation (WHO), US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), European Medicines Agency (EMA), or Vietnamese authorities.

The second dose must be administered no less than 14 days and no more than 12 months prior to entry.

The policy will also apply to people who have proof showing their full recovery from COVID-19.

The discharge date from hospital after recovering from COVID-19 must not be more than 12 months prior to entry.

But in both cases of above mentioned arrivals, they will need to have negative lab tests for the virus prior to entry and will be tested on the first day of quarantine (antigen tests) and the sixth day (RT-PCR test).

COVID-19 vaccination records or recovery certificates must be available in English.

Other cases of arrivals will undergo 14-day quarantine (with a third RT-PCR test on the 13th day of quarantine).

All arrivals however will need to self-isolate at their residence or home for another seven days.

The categories of arrivals allowed in this pilot programme are foreign experts, business executives, highly skilled workers (grouped under the term ‘experts’) along with their relatives, foreign students, athletes, diplomatic guests, or people on business trips, etc.

Since reports of novel coronavirus outbreaks in China, even before the border closures against nearly all foreign arrivals starting March last year, Việt Nam has imposed mandatory 14-day centralised quarantine for all arrivals, but has raised the quarantine period to 21 days (plus seven days in home isolation) in May this year over concerns of more highly transmissible variants.

The health ministry’s decision does not apply to people who entered the country for trips lasting less than 14 days, who will need to just stay at their hotels, resorts, or designated accommodation facility.

Further requirements

The arrivals will need to make health declarations and fill in the registered quarantine facilities and subsequent places for self-isolation on the Bluezone app (available on both iOS and Android) or on the website https://tokhaiyte.vn 36 hours prior to planned departure and save the QR code on their mobile devices (or print the code in cases of elderly people, children, or people with disabilities).

In cases of arrivals via land border or port border gate, they can make health declarations at the border gates of entry either online or via paper forms.

Previously, on June 11, the health ministry had a meeting with Quảng Ninh on the conducting of the pilot policy for arrivals via Vân Đồn International Airport.

According to Quảng Ninh’s authorities, since 2020, the province has received some 200 flights bringing in repatriated Vietnamese citizens, foreign experts or business executives.

The COVID-19 prevention and control at the airport, transportation of the arrivals and quarantine work have been carried out methodically and smoothly.

The Government is also looking at the southern island of Phú Quốc in Kiên Giang Province to pilot a vaccine passport programme in which fully inoculated foreign tourists can enter the country, once the population on the island (including children) has achieved herd immunity via vaccination. — VNS