Kien Giang (VNS/VNA) - The resort island Phu Quoc in southern Vietnamis planning to fully vaccinate its residents against COVID-19 by September towelcome the year-end foreign tourism surge, as part of a vaccine passport pilotprogramme.

During a health ministry meeting with Kien Giang province’s leaders on COVID-19prevention and control and vaccine passport pilot implementation in Phu Quocisland city on June 26, Mai Van Huynh, Deputy Secretary of the Kien Giang PartyCommittee, said the plan is to carry out the first phase of vaccination in Julyand the second phase in September – with total time needed of about 16-18weeks.

According to Huynh, it is estimated that 220,000 doses would be needed to fullyinoculate the entire population of Phu Quoc. The budget reserved for the doseswould be 29.3 billion VND (approx. 1.27 million USD) if the AstraZenecaCOVID-19 vaccine were to be used, or 40.3 billion VND (approx. 1.749 millionUSD) if the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were to be used.

The vaccination plan will be immediately carried out once the vaccines aredelivered, he said.

Fully-vaccinated Russian tourists, which made up a large part of the visitorsto Phu Quoc pre-pandemic, would be the first to be welcomed to the island in a"closed tourism model", where they would stay at a resort andmovements are restricted. The model will be reviewed and tourists from othercountries with high coverage of COVID-19 vaccine could then be allowed in aswell.

The reopening to foreign tourism however necessitates enhancing medicalcapacity for the city when healthcare infrastructure here remains limited, inorder to ensure safety and health for residents and tourists.

Deputy Health Minister Do Xuan Tuyen proposed setting up two centres fortreating seriously-ill COVID-19 patients in Kien Giang – one at the provincialGeneral Hospital and one on Phu Quoc island.

Tuyen wants all involved agencies to work with the local authorities to build aplan on vaccine passports to submit to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh forreview before July 15.

Previously, the Government Office sent a document to the Ministry of Health andthe Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, ordering "rapid" studyand piloting of a ‘vaccine passport’ mechanism for foreign arrivals to somepopular tourism destinations where COVID-19 outbreaks could be contained suchas Phu Quoc island.

The health ministry is asked to build plan on inoculating the residents –including children – to reach herd immunity within a detailed roadmap, beforethe vaccine passport can be implemented.

Tourism is the mainstay of Phu Quoc's economy. In 2020, tourists to the islanddropped 30.6 percent compared to 2019, with international tourists plungingeven further - 76.1 percent - due to border closures./.