Low COVID-19 Vaccination Rate, Vietnam Postpones The Reopening Of Phu Quoc Resort Island

JAKARTA - Vietnamese authorities have decided to postpone plans to reopen the resort island of Phu Quoc to foreign tourists until November, after failing to meet its COVID-19 vaccination target for its residents due to inadequate vaccine supplies.

Vietnam, which is closed to all entrants, except for returning residents and investors, is struggling to speed up COVID-19 vaccinations to help contain the surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the Delta variant in recent months.

Vietnamese authorities initially planned to allow vaccinated foreign tourists to start returning to Phu Quoc in October, to revive the tourism sector and prop up the economy.

"We have to vaccinate residents here for herd immunity, but vaccine supplies are running low," the state-run VTC newspaper quoted Huynh Quang Hung, chairman of the Phu Quoc City People's Committee as saying, as reported by Reuters on September 24.

Last week, island authorities said an additional 250,000-300,000 doses would be needed to achieve herd immunity.

So far, only about 2.9 percent of the population in Kien Giang, the province hosting Phu Quoc, have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, official data show.

Overall, only about 7.3 percent of Vietnam's 98 million population have received a complete COVID-19 vaccination, one of the lowest rates in the region.

Phu Quoc on Monday detected a new COVID-19 cluster after months without local cases, although provincial authorities said it was under control and would not affect reopening plans.

Authorities say Phu Quoc will reopen in stages over six months from November 20, with up to three charter flights landing per week.

Under the plan, the island expects to welcome 3.000-5.000 visitors during the trial period, with mandatory COVID-19 tests carried out by authorities, the VTC said in a Thursday report.

It remains unclear whether visitors will have to undergo a seven-day quarantine period as requested by Vietnam's health ministry.

To note, foreign tourist arrivals to Vietnam have fallen from 18 million in 2019, when tourism revenues reached USD 31 billion, or nearly 12 percent of gross domestic product, to only USD 3.8 million last year.

Plans to welcome back tourists come as Malaysia reopened Langkawi Island to domestic visitors last week, while Thailand has opened up the islands of Phuket and Samui to vaccinated foreign tourists.