Ministry announces issues related to electronic vaccine passports
1- What is an electronic vaccine passport?
An electronic vaccine passport is an electronic certificate of Covid-19 vaccination that is digitally signed by vaccination facilities and the Ministry of Health based on people's Covid-19 vaccine vaccination information.
2- How long is an electronic vaccine passport valid?
The QR code of the vaccine passport is valid for 12 months from the date the Ministry of Health signs the confirmation number. When the code expires, people will be notified and automatically generate a new QR code to use. This is a technical solution to ensure the safety and security of information for people.
3- What technical standard does Vietnam's electronic vaccine passport use and how many countries use this standard?
Vietnam's electronic vaccine passport uses standards issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Union (EU), currently being used in 62 countries and other countries will also use the standard in the future.
4- In which countries can Vietnam's electronic vaccine passports be used?
As of April 7, Vietnam has reached an agreement on mutual recognition of vaccine passports with 19 countries including Japan, the US, the UK, Australia, India, Belarus, Cambodia, the Philippines, Palestine, the Maldives, and New Zealand. Zealand, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Turkey, Singapore, Saint Lucia, South Korea, Iran, and Malaysia.
5- What do people have to do to get a vaccine passport?
Fully vaccinated residents don’t need to finish any formality if their data have been updated on the system by the vaccination facility, verified with the correct information with the National Population Database,
6- Where can people see vaccine passports?
Vaccine passports will be displayed on the electronic health book application, PC-Covid, or on the Ministry of Health’s portal which is being developed. Along with that, the Ministry of Health has requested the Ministry of Public Security to add the function of displaying vaccine passports on the VNEID application. Currently, responsible departments of the two ministries are working to soon complete it.
7- What should people do if Covid-19 vaccination information is wrong or missing?
People need to check Covid-19 vaccination information on the immunization portal or the electronic health book application. If people detect errors/lack of information, people are requested to contact directly or reflect on the Covid-19 vaccination portal https://tiemchungcovid19.gov.vn with the vaccination facility to be supplemented and updated.
8- What is the process for granting a vaccine passport?
According to Decision No. 5772/QD-BYT dated December 20, 2021, of the Ministry of Health, the vaccine passport issuance process includes 3 steps:
Step 1: Immunization establishments review, verify and authenticate information of vaccinated residents according to the Ministry of Health’s instructions in the dispatch No. 8938/BYT-DP dated October 21, 2021, on the guiding the process of information verification and vaccination against Covid-19 vaccine and the Letter No. 9438/BYT-CNTT dated November 5, 2021, on guiding the process of authenticating people's information on the management platform of Covid-19 vaccination.
Step 2: Immunization facilities digitally sign vaccine vaccination data on the Covid-19 Immunization Management platform. The Covid-19 vaccination management platform connects and shares vaccination data with the Covid-19 vaccine vaccination certification management system that meets the regulations on connecting medical data issued by the Ministry of Health.
Step 3: The Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health signs the certificate of concentrated Covid-19 vaccine vaccination. The country is using the standard EU QR code format to make the certificate.
