Laos govt advises people to get Covid booster shots

Having booster shots (the third or fourth vaccination) is a requirement for application for foreign travel, local daily Vientiane Times reported on Wednesday.

It comes as the government is considering fully reopening the country to travel for both Laos and foreign nationals.

The National Taskforce Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control 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.

Phonepaserd Sayamoungkhoun, deputy director-general of the Department of Communicable Diseases Control under the Lao Ministry of Health, said that a booster dose was a requirement when applying for permission to travel to another country.

Booster vaccination uptake remains low in Laos, with the coverage currently standing at 19.4 percent of the population.

Phonepaserd advised everyone eligible for a booster dose to come forward for vaccination in order to strengthen immunity to Covid-19 and facilitate application for permission to undertake various activities.

To date, almost 70 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated, according to the task force.

The task force said it plans to ask the government to reopen the country following a steady decline in the number of infections and deaths from Covid-19, while there is an urgent need to revitalize the economy, especially the tourism industry.

As of Wednesday, the total number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Laos stood at 2,08,111 with 746 deaths.