Aviation agency proposes exempting vaccinated foreigners from quarantine from September

Vietnamese aviation authorities proposed allowing vaccinated foreign passengers into the country from September without requiring centralized quarantine.

In a proposal sent to the Ministry of Transport on Wednesday, the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) said it is scheduled to resume regular international flights with countries and territories that have approved the same type of Covid-19 vaccines as Vietnam.

There will be seven flights a week.

Passengers will be exempt from 14-day centralized quarantine if they show a certificate confirming they had tested negative for the novel coronavirus and an international vaccination certificate proving they had been inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine recognized by Vietnam.

So far, Vietnam approved AstraZeneca’s ChAdOx1 vaccine and Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine.

After entering the country, passengers must declare to local authorities their place of residence and isolate themselves here for seven to 14 days.

Passengers who do not have both a Covid-19 negative and international immunization certificate are required to be quarartined at a centralized facility for 14 days.

It said the plan can start in September, but it depends on progress in the country’s mass vaccination campaign, which started on March 8. Over 48,000 Vietnamese, mainly frontline workers in the Covid-19 fight, have received their first Covid-19 vaccine shots.

CAAV also proposed resuming regular flights with Japan, South Korea and Taiwan from July with each side operating four flights a week. However, all passengers will be quarantined upon arrival as per the Health Ministry protocol.

It is expected there would be around 6,000 to 7,000 passengers entering the country each week from those three Asian destinations.

The government has closed national borders and canceled all international flights since March last year with only Vietnamese repatriates, foreign experts and highly-skilled workers allowed in with stringent conditions.

Many foreigners who have been kept out of Vietnam due to travel restrictions have pleaded with the government to reopen the borders and resume international flights so they could reunite with their families.

The government last year green-lighted the resumption of commercial flights to seven Asian destinations, mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand, but Vietnamese carriers are still not allowed to operate inbound flights.

By Doan Loan – VnExpress.net –  March 31, 2021