Vietnam

Vietnam began its vaccine program by focusing on healthcare workers. The country developed flu communications materials and conducted four healthcare worker workshops, as well as an AEFI (Adverse Event Following Immunization) surveillance program in 24 provinces. Vietnam’s in-country vaccine manufacturer (IVAC) soon licensed its own influenza vaccine, and PIVI purchased and donated IVAC vaccines to Vietnam’s Ministry of Health to bolster program growth.

With PIVI support, the General Department of Preventive Medicine (GDPM) within the Ministry of Health and the Vietnam office of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a vaccine acceptability survey among healthcare workers. Vietnam also conducted Flu Working Group Training through the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) and a Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perceptions (KAP) Questionnaire with technical support from PIVI.

Vietnam’s flu vaccine program served it well when the pandemic began, and the experience and infrastructure it had built smoothed the way for an effective COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Lessons learned from influenza vaccine safety monitoring during this campaign will also be used to monitor and evaluate COVID-19 vaccine safety in Vietnam.

Read about Vietnam’s success story.