Vietnam’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Vietnam has attracted global attention for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its exceptionally low rates of infections, hospitalizations and deaths from the disease. This is attributed to early and effective intervention by national government, which closed the country to international travel, severely curtailed internal movement and mobilized a range of state and civil society actors. Testing and tracing were applied at an unpreceded level and health services greatly expanded to provide access to all who required them. A comprehensive financial package was promptly put in place that compensated businesses and workers where economic activity was shut down, but there is evidence that this has not reached some of the most vulnerable groups in society. This chapter draws on published and unpublished material from state and non-state sources, including multilateral bodies, as well as interviews with workers directly affected by the pandemic, to provide a critical review of Vietnam’s response to the pandemic and the lessons to be learned.