The Ministry of Health has announced the form and procedure in which to grant a COVID-19 vaccine passport, starting from December 20.

The Vietnamese vaccine passport consists of information relating to the name, date of birth, and nationality, along with details such if the person has any diseases, their number of vaccine injections, date of injection, number of doses, type of vaccine, supplier or manufacturer of vaccines, and certificate code.

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According to a report on Dan Tri Newspaper, the information will be digitally signed, encrypted, and packaged in the form of a 2D QR code, with the QR code on the vaccine passport expiring 12 months on from the date of issuance.

Information about vaccines, type of vaccine, vaccine suppliers, and manufacturers will be displayed in line with documents issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Union.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as of December 8 Vietnam had temporarily recognised the vaccine passport/vaccination certificate of 78 countries and territories worldwide.

Meanwhile, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Belarus had already recognised Vietnamese vaccine passports.

Vietnam is entering negotiations on mutual recognition of vaccine passports with dozens of other countries of which India and Canada have already agreed in principle, according to Foreign ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang.

A number of other partners, including ASEAN members, the EU, China, and the Republic of Korea, have actively considered the Vietnamese request to recognise its vaccine passport.

These partners are currently waiting for Vietnam to issue a unified vaccine passport template featuring an electronic authentication mechanism, according to local media.