Government Pandemic Policies Associated with Vaccine Fund and Vaccine Diplomacy in Response to COVID-19: A Critical Study of the Vietnamese Experience

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam has experienced four coronavirus waves. While the government was able to bring the first three outbreaks under control, the fourth outbreak has been causing rampant health, economic, and social problems in Vietnam. This study contributes to the literature by conducting a systematic and critical analysis on how the Vietnamese government responds to the COVID-19 pandemic. We review a large number of policy documents issued by the central and provincial authorities over a two-year period from January 2020 to March 2022. Early success in pandemic control can be attributed to proactive communication to raise public awareness, strong contact tracing technology, and timely public health and economic policy measures. In response to the low national vaccination rate, which is a focal point during the fourth outbreak, the government proactively engages in diplomacy with other countries to take advantage of vaccine support and to set up the Vaccine Fund to secure and mobilize financial resources from the private sector to fund various vaccine activities including procurement, rollout, and research and development for domestic production. Vaccine diplomacy and the establishment of the Vaccine Fund represents a turning point in the pandemic campaign and demonstrates that Vietnam is capable of applying the formula of Vaccine + the 5 Ks: Khẩu trang (face mask), Khoảng cách (keeping a safe distance), Khử khuẩn (disinfection), Không tập trung đông người (do not gather in crowded places), and Khai báo y tế (health declaration), which gives Vietnam the best chance to vanquish COVID-19 in the long term. This paper also finds that the Vietnamese government has effectively controlled the pandemic by leveraging and harnessing public trust and upholding traditional cultural values. The lessons drawn from policy responses and the Vaccine Fund in Vietnam, as a lower-middle-income country, serve as a useful COVID-19 reference for other developing countries.