Get a Covid booster shot to allow foreign travel: taskforce 

Health authorities have advised members of the public to get a Covid-19 vaccine booster to strengthen their immunity and meet the criteria needed to apply for foreign travel.
Having booster shots (third or fourth vaccinations) is a requirement for application for foreign travel, the National Taskforce for Covid-19 Prevention and Control told the daily press briefing on Tuesday.
It comes as the government is considering fully reopening the country to travel for both Lao and foreign nationals.
The taskforce is currently canvassing opinion from the general public, including foreign expatriates in Laos, over the proposed reopening of the country’s borders to all Lao and foreign citizens.
The input gained will be included in a proposal to be submitted to the government for consideration.
Addressing the press briefing on Tuesday, Deputy Director General of the Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Health, Dr Phonepaseuth Xayamoungkhoun, said that a booster dose was a requirement when applying for permission to travel to another country.
“Obtaining a vaccination certificate, which is in English, and is necessary when applying for foreign travel or other documentation, requires one to have a booster dose,” she said.
Booster vaccination uptake remains low, with coverage currently standing at just 19.4 percent of the population.
Dr Phonepaseuth advised everyone eligible for a booster dose to come forward for vaccination in order to strengthen immunity to Covid and facilitate application for permission to undertake various activities.
The effective rollout of booster shots has important implications for the revision of Covid prevention and control measures.
To date, almost 70 percent of the population have been fully vaccinated, according to the taskforce.
The taskforce said it plans to ask the government to reopen the country following a steady decline in the number of infections and deaths from Covid, while there is an urgent need to revitalise the economy, especially the tourism industry.
Dr Phonepaseuth said the number of Covid infections is now declining worldwide, resulting in many countries, including within the Asean bloc, reopening their borders to foreign visitors. Covid restrictions are also being eased to revitalise their economies.  
On Tuesday, 153 new Covid cases were reported in Laos after positive tests were returned in the past 24 hours, Dr Phonepaseuth told the press briefing.
This brings the total number of cases in Laos to 207,875, including 596 people currently undergoing treatment. A total of 746 Covid-related deaths have been reported, including one new fatality in Xaysomboun province.
Worldwide, more than 513.7 million people have contracted Covid, including 270,099 new cases. More than 6.26 million people have died from the virus, including 1,421 new deaths.
 

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update May 4, 2022)