ABSTRACT
For Vietnam, Toan Dang (Central Highlands Centre for Community Development and Climate Change Adaptation), shows how the pandemic was politicised by the government to encourage people to move to a ‘war footing’ to defeat the virus. Various groups and levels of community were enlisted in non-pharmaceutical measures through unifying discourses which emphasised nationalistic duty, community well-being and citizen responsibility. Certain features of Vietnam’s COVID response hark back to its recent war history. Its attitude towards Chinese-produced vaccines relates to a longer and more complex relationship with China, as evidenced by the way that strong cultural and historical values provoked many to avoid Chinese-made vaccines.
