The People-Based, State-Led Approach in Containing Covid-19 in Vietnam

Abstract

Vietnam's efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic have been widely praised. The country's leadership took early action to close its borders and reduce community transmission and kept case numbers low, at least in the first year. Between 23 January 2020, when the first cases were detected in Vietnam, and 25 March 2021, the end of the third wave of infection, the country experienced just 2,830 cases and 35 deaths. However, the fourth wave, from 27 April 2021 to 30 March 2022 (when the Vietnamese government declared a formal end to the pandemic), saw over ten million confirmed cases, and 42,454 recorded fatalities. This article examines why the first three waves were successfully contained and the fourth wave of COVID was so much more damaging.

The Vietnamese leadership described its approach to controlling the pandemic as ‘people-based, state-led’. It treated the pandemic response as a question of popular mobilisation akin to wartime, directed by strong leadership through communist party, government, and local authority structures. The political system mobilized grassroots support for disease prevention, quarantine regulations, and other measures. Importantly, power was delegated to local authorities to tackle infections, and they were held accountable for their actions. The article also highlights the role of voluntary activity in filling gaps in state provision. Lessons learnt in this process can benefit Vietnam and other countries preparing for future pandemic situations.

Keywords:

• Covid-19
• containment
• people-based
• state-led
• lockdown
• Vietnam

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

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4 Vietnam Ministry of Health, op cit.

5 Ibid.

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Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nguyen Ngoc Anh

Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Anh is a lecturer with the Institute of Party-Building Affairs at the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, Hanoi, Vietnam. She has a background in Vietnamese political study with a Ph.D. in Party-building affairs. She has been actively involved in research projects on Vietnamese political studies, particularly in Party-building and political system reform.