VIETNAM is considering mutual recognition of vaccine passports with countries in Southeast Asia, China, Japan, South Korea, the European Union and the United States.
The government said such mutual recognition was very important and especially necessary in the current situation, reports the Vn Express.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has told the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate with the Ministry of Health and work with authorities in other countries on this issue.
Many countries in the world have adopted the vaccine passport to reopen their countries as they try to return to normalcy and live with the Covid-19 coronavirus.
Earlier this month, the Van Don International Airport in the northern Quang Ninh province received the first flight operated under a trial vaccine passport programme that requires foreign arrivals to be quarantined for just seven days.
The Sept 4 flight carried 297 Vietnamese passengers returning from Japan.
All passengers had already received two doses of Covid-19 vaccines, with the second dose administered at least 14 days but no more than 12 months prior to the date of entry.
There were two more flights under the policy, bringing 345 Vietnamese back from the US on Sept 9, and another bringing 301 Vietnamese passengers from France on Sept 23.
Vietnam is now in the midst of switching from the target of achieving "zero Covid-19" to living with Covid-19, so that it can resume socio-economic activities after months of lockdowns.
Health authorities said the country recorded 10,011 new local Covid-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the total coronavirus tally in the ongoing wave to 752,186.
The three localities with the highest numbers of new cases were Ho Chi Minh City with 5,121 cases and its neighbouring provinces of Binh Duong with 3,332, and Dong Nai with 746.
Five months since the new wave hit Vietnam, community infections have been recorded in 62 out of the nation's 63 cities and provinces, with Ho Chi Minh City recording the most cases with 371,660 infections.
It was followed by Binh Duong with 200,196 and Dong Nai with 45,667.
The northern province of Cao Bang is the only Covid-free locality.
In Ho Chi Minh City, where mass testing has been conducted recently to prepare for a reopening of the locked down city, the rate of people testing positive has dropped from 0.4 per cent on Wednesday to 0.2 per cent on Saturday.
The Ministry of Health also announced that there were 184 Covid-19 fatalities in the country, including 131 in Ho Chi Minh City and 26 in Binh Duong.
Vietnam has so far recorded 18,584 Covid-19 deaths, with 18,549 occurring in the fourth wave that broke out in late April.
Over 30 million people in the country have received their first Covid-19 vaccine shots and more than 7.94 million are fully vaccinated.
