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 Vietnam effectively closed its borders to normal outside travel in
March 2020, and has only allowed its citizens or foreign experts to
enter the country provided they undergo three weeks of quarantine at
a hotel or military-run centre, even if they have been vaccinated.
"AmCham encourages authorities to implement less burdensome entry
procedures for fully vaccinated business people, foreign experts and
maybe even tourists," AmCham director Adam Sitkoff said in a
statement.
The statement said 81% of the chamber's members would bring more
people to Vietnam if the mandatory quarantine period was reduced
from its current 21 days down to seven, citing a survey of its
members.
Vietnam has received global praise for its success in containing
COVID-19, thanks to a programme of targeted mass testing, contact
tracing, and a centralised quarantine system.
It has kept its virus tally to a low 5,308 cases, and reported 43
deaths.
But a new outbreak that has infected 2,254 people since late April
has prompted calls for Vietnam's government to accelerate its
vaccination programme.
So far, around a million doses have been administered in Vietnam,
although just 28,961 people have been fully vaccinated.
[to top of second column] |
 Vietnam has placed orders for
more vaccines from several suppliers and
received around 2.5 mln doses via the COVAX
sharing scheme. Officials have said they expect
to receive more vaccines by the end of the year,
but not enough to achieve community immunity.
AmCham's Sitkoff told Reuters that many of the chamber's members
were willing to pay to get their workforce vaccinated, and that
there were ongoing discussions with the Vietnamese government about
how to do so.
"A greater sense of urgency is needed for authorities to formulate a
programme and timeline for this to happen," he said.
Vietnam's health ministry did not immediately respond to a request
for comment.
(Reporting by James Pearson; Editing by Ed Davies)
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