3-days self-quarantine for persons entering Vietnam who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19

3-days self-quarantine for persons entering Vietnam who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19

The Ministry of Health of Vietnam issued Official Letter 10688/BYT-MT dated December 16th, 2021 on the prevention and control of COVID-19 for immigrants, in which there will be 3-days self-quarantine at places of residence for persons entering Vietnam who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 effective from January 1st, 2022.

1. General requirements on Covid-19 prevention and control for persons entering Vietnam:

- Having a negative SARS-CoV-2 test result before entry (except for children under 2 years old) using RT-PCR/RT-LAMP method issued by the departing country”s competent authority within 72 hours before entry into Vietnam.

- Perform health declaration before entry and install/use the Vietnam health declaration application (PC-COVID) to perform health  declarations and monitor health according to Vietnam”s regulations

- In case of entry of Vietnamese citizen, overseas Vietnamese and relatives (including spouse, children) who who are not vaccinated or not fully vaccinated COVID-19 will be vaccinated in Vietnam for free during the quarantine period (if eligible).

- Commit to pay testing, medical quarantine, medical examination and treatment and other related expenses (if any) in the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic according to the provisions of Resolution No. 16/NQ -CP dated February 8th , 2021 of the Government on the cost of medical quarantine, medical examination and treatment and some specific regimes in the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic.

2. Requirements for Covid-19 prevention and control for specific cases:

2.1. For persons entering Vietnam who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19
- Conduct self-quarantine and health monitoring at places of residence (houses, hotels, resorts, offices of companies/organizations, dormitories, guest houses of production establishments and businesses) within three days upon entry, and must avoid contacting with people and leaving their residence
- Undergo a SARS-CoV-2 test using RT-PCR method on the third day upon entry and if the result is negative, continue to monitor their health for a full 14 days upon entry; In case the test result is positive, it will be handled according to regulations.
Notes:
Person entering Vietnam who are fully vaccinated is a person who are fully vaccinated COVID-19 according to the instructions for each permitted vaccine (the last dose injected within at least 14 days and not more than 12 months upon entry) and have a Certificate of Vaccination/vaccine passport recognized by Vietnam (or legalized/confirmed at a competent authority if such Certificate has not been recognized for use directly in Vietnam)
Person entering Vietnam who has recovered from COVID-19 is a person who has been infected with SARS-CoV-2 (have a certificate of positive test for SAR-COV-2 by single form  RT-PCR method more than 6 months upon  entry) and have recovered from the disease (with a certificate of recovery from COVID-19 or equivalent documents certifying that the disease has been cured by the competent authority in the country/territory).

2.2. For persons entering Vietnam who have not been vaccinated or have not fully vaccinated COVID-19
- Conduct self-quarantine at their place of residence within seven days upon entry.
- Take a SARS-CoV-2 test using RT-PCR method on the third and seventh days upon entry and, if the result is negative, continue to monitor their health for a full 14 days upon entry. In case the test result is positive, it will be handled according to regulations.
- Persons under 18 years old or of 65 years old and above, pregnant women and persons with underlying medical conditions are allowed to self-quarantine with their caretakers. Such caretakers must be fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19, commit to doing the self-quarantine with such persons and comply with testing and COVID-19 prevention requirements similar to persons entering Vietnam.

3. Other COVID-19 prevention and control requirements

a) Requirements on transporting persons entering Vietnam from the border gate of entry to their place of residence
- For persons entering Vietnam: during the process of moving from the border gate of entry to the place of residence, 5K regulations must be strictly observed.
- For drivers of vehicles transporting persons entering Vietnam: stopping and parking along the road is restricted; In special/emergency cases where parking must be stopped along the road, safety measures must be taken to prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic.
b) Requirements for quarantine at their place of residence mentioned in Section 2.2 of Official Letter 10688/BYT-MT: comply with Official Letter No. 5599/BYT-MT dated July 14, 2021 of the Ministry of Health on reducing  quarantine period, pilot F1 medical quarantine at home, manage treatment of COVID-19 patients; In case the accommodation does not meet the conditions for home quarantine, the quarantined person must conduct concentrated quarantine at a hotel or other concentrated quarantine facility (according to local regulations) according to the quarantine period corresponding to each subject mentioned in Official Letter 10688/BYT-MT.
c) Requirements during health monitoring: always fully comply with 5K regulations (wear masks, make medical declarations, disinfect hands regularly, do not go to crowded places, do not gather); In case there are signs of cough, fever, difficulty breathing, sore throat, etc., immediately report to local health care for handling according to regulations.
d) In addition to complying with the requirements stated in Official Letter 10688/BYT-MT, it must comply with regulations on prevention and control of COVID-19 epidemic mentioned in other relevant documents.
dd) Encourage rapid self-test for SARS-CoV-2 antigen on the 1st day from the date of entry; If there is a positive test result, immediately notify the local health department for handling according to regulations.

4. Check and recognize Certificate of Vaccination, Certificate of COVID-19 recovery.

- Regarding the inspection and recognition of the Certificate of COVID-19 vaccination, the Certificate of COVID-19 Recovering abroad (or vaccine passport) shall comply with the guidance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Regarding the recognition and examination of the Certificate of COVID-19 vaccination, the Certificate of COVID-19 recovery in Vietnam shall comply with the guidance of the Ministry of Health.

5. Provincial-level People”s Committees, ministries and branches will direct the implementation of the contents stated in Official Dispatch 10688/BYT-MT; ensure that the management and supervision of medical isolation are strictly implemented, so as not to cross-infect and spread the disease to the community.

6. Official Letter 10688/BYT-MT replacing Official Letter No. 6288/BYT-MT dated August 4, 2021 of the Ministry of Health on reducing the time of concentrated medical quarantine for persons entering Vietnam who have had full vaccination COVID-19, Official Letter No. 5446/BYT-MT dated July 8, 2021, Official Letter No. 6670/BYT-MT dated August 16, 2021 of the Ministry of Health on medical quarantine of diplomatic missions, Official letter No. 7020/BYT-MT dated August 25, 2021 of the Ministry of Health on quarantine and prevention of COVID-19 for children. Depending on the epidemic situation, the time and form of quarantine will be adjusted accordingly.

7. Official Letter 10688/BYT-MT does not apply to those who have entered Vietnam and are in quarantine and medical monitoring as prescribed before the date of issuance of this Official Letter.

8. Time to apply measures to prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic for persons entering Vietnam according to Official Letter 10688/BYT-MT from January 1, 2022.

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