bobbytables

I agree, the "zero covid" target is unrealistic in combination with allowing international travel, and the enshrinement of that target in local politics and public expectations has put these countries in a very difficult position moving forward.

The situation is also more complex in Vietnam due to difficulties in obtaining vaccines. Entirely contradictory reports come out of the government and the media every day regarding vaccination numbers, targets, and vaccine orders, but at present I believe only about 20-30k people (in a country of 96m) are fully vaccinated, and the government at one point announced a target of vaccinating 20% of the population by the end of 2022. As an expat living here, I would be happy to pay well for a vaccine, yet none is available without a logistically complicated and time-consuming trip to another country. No plausible plan has been presented that would achieve anything approaching population immunity.

Unless the rest of the world eradicates the virus, which is very unlikely, Vietnam has no realistic chance of opening up without mass vaccination, because even the kind of case numbers that would be considered relatively small in other countries would completely overwhelm the available medical facilities. Singapore by contrast can safely afford to have some low baseline of cases in order to have a sustainable path forward, since the available medical care is much greater both in quantity and quality. (And in any case, the vaccination picture in Singapore looks much better than here.)

I would be surprised if Vietnam is easily accessible to foreign tourists in the next 12 months or even much longer.