Success in combating a pandemic: Role of fast policy responses

The rapid outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic is putting humanity in front of enormous health risks. The pandemic also causes serious social crises in many countries. In order to successfully prevent and control a dangerous epidemic such as COVID-19, it requires the government to have an urgent, flexible and effective policy response framework. This health disaster once again highlights the importance of public governance in crisis. Since the COVID-19 spread globally, Vietnam has been recognized by international organizations as having one of the best-organized epidemic control programs in this pandemic. My paper introduces the fast policy responses of the Vietnamese government to prevent and control the COVID-19 pandemic. The practical experiences from Vietnam are not only useful for policymakers in other countries in finalizing the policy response framework for coping with the on-going pandemic but also contribute to the public management theory in social crises.