The vaccine gap: Why Vietnam must swap bureaucracy for obsession to survive the pandemic

The urgency of a national crisis requires a singular, non-traditional form of leadership.

Nearly a year ago, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla vividly recalled his interactions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the vaccine race. Netanyahu called him 30 times, sometimes at three in the morning. Beyond committing to a high purchase price, Israel agreed to share national health data, granting Pfizer a rare opportunity for country-scale trial monitoring. “I was genuinely impressed by your Prime Minister’s obsession [with getting the Covid-19 vaccine],” Bourla remarked.

Thanks to this relentless effort, Israel received priority supply and became the world’s most efficiently vaccinated nation, reopening its economy and allowing citizens to party, sunbathe, and hug without masks.

As an education business leader in Vietnam, returning to work after various holidays means navigating continued multi-billion dong revenue losses. Four decades after my parents hid in bomb shelters during wartime, I finally understood what “war” meant in peacetime—the constant battle against the virus. While our enterprises are exhausted after four waves, we are not confused or panicked; we simply know we are weary. Never has the desire for “peace” been so strong. We long to return to normal life, like the Israelis.

How can Vietnam quickly secure enough vaccines for its 96 million people? This is the largest, most critical transaction facing the government and the nation right now.

We have won several battles, but that does not mean we will win the war. The prospect of Vietnam remaining an island—unable to procure or produce sufficient vaccines—while the rest of the world returns to normal is a chilling thought no one welcomes.

The reality is stark: Vietnam has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Southeast Asia. While Cambodia and Indonesia have vaccinated well over 5-10% of their populations, and countries like the U.S. and U.K. are approaching herd immunity, Vietnam remains below 1% fully vaccinated. Our aggressive containment policy has been a source of national pride, but with our long borders and the current viral climate, Vietnam cannot rely forever on contact tracing, lockdowns, and business closures. The vaccine is the only weapon in this historic fight.

The delusion of gifts and waivers

Vietnam cannot afford to hope for gifts. We cannot rely on WHO assistance programs, which must prioritize others. Nor can we seriously expect the U.S. to deliver a meaningful quantity of its promised 60 million doses when billions across the globe are also desperate.

We also cannot pin our hopes on IP waivers. As Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel stated, production is not simply a matter of shared copyright; the true bottlenecks lie in raw materials, complex supply chains, specialized manufacturing facilities, and training in mRNA technology. Even developed nations require 12–18 months for this. Vietnam, therefore, may not be able to rely significantly on domestic vaccine production for two to three years.

To avoid becoming a quarantined island, Vietnam must do everything possible to secure procurement contracts right now.

Drastic situations require drastic measures

Under normal circumstances, major national decisions—what vaccine to buy, how much, and at what price—must pass through the Central Government, the Politburo, and the National Assembly for budgetary approval. This is slow by design.

At a time when the entire world is in a bidding war, we cannot afford to negotiate, report, and wait for standard approval cycles. If our Prime Minister were empowered to act like the Israeli Prime Minister—to make instantaneous, high-stakes decisions—Vietnam could seize the fleeting opportunities before us.

The National Assembly must pre-approve a large, flexible vaccination budget. The Government must pre-license various vaccines (currently only AstraZeneca is approved). Everything must be ready so we can commit instantly. If we wait for approval cycles, we hand our chance to another country.

The vaccine task force: a golden pass

I propose establishing a “Vaccine Task Force” (Đội Đặc Nhiệm Vaccine) reporting directly to the Prime Minister, empowered to make decisions in the shortest time possible. This team should include government members, exceptional diplomats, respected figures with deep international connections in manufacturing nations, and financially potent, reputable Vietnamese corporations.

We must grant this Task Force a “Golden Edict” (Kim Bài Miễn Tử) and absolute political backing to secure the vaccines. If negotiations fail due to “peacetime procedure,” it is not only their careers that suffer, but the nation’s reputation. This is also an opportunity for the government to show it is willing to break bureaucratic barriers when necessary.

To support this Task Force, Vietnam should immediately activate a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mechanism. Large private conglomerates with deep pockets and strong international credit should be authorized to join the effort. Their advantage is decisiveness and speed. While manufacturers prefer to deal with states, strong state backing of private procurement will maximize our chances.

A fair path to immunity

The costs can be managed fairly. We can prioritize free vaccinations for high-risk groups: doctors, nurses, military, police, and teachers. Subsidies should be prioritized for the poor and vulnerable.

However, the middle and upper classes should be allowed to pay for their own doses to share the financial burden. I, myself, am ready to purchase vaccines for my family and my company. If just one-fifth of the population pays for their doses, the burden on the government is drastically reduced.

The Israeli people are shopping, dining, and traveling without worry. That is the universal aspiration. The Vietnamese government, along with capable enterprises and individuals, must act now if we do not want Vietnam to be the last island in the pandemic.