Embassies propose no quarantine for vaccinated foreign arrivals

Foreigners arrive at HCMC's Tan Son Nhat Airport in March 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Expressing support for Vietnam's resumption of international flights, several embassies have proposed that people fully vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19 are exempted from any quarantine requirement.

According to VN Express, at a Wednesday meeting between Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan and diplomatic representatives of certain countries on the resumption of international flights, embassies of several countries said they support Vietnam's strategy to adapt to the pandemic as well as the plan to resume international flights.

The resumption would help boost Vietnam's economic relations with other countries and generate business and travel opportunities, they added.

However, they also said that Vietnamese authorities should consider changing the country's immigration and visa policies back to what they were before the pandemic appeared, including removing quarantine requirements for entrants who test negative for the coronavirus and have either been fully vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19.

Currently, all arrivals except for children below two must test negative for the coronavirus and those who have either been fully vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19 would have to be "home quarantined" (self-isolation at accommodation of choice) the first three days. Others would have to self-quarantine for seven days.

Starting January 1, 2022, Vietnam plans to reopen commercial flights to certain destinations deemed safe, like Bangkok, Beijing/Guangzhou, Phnom Penh, San Francisco or Los Angeles, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, and Vientiane.

There would be four flights per week to each destination and an estimated 14,000 arrivals a week in the first phase of the reopening project.

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