USAID MOMENTUM project disseminated results of strategic technical support for Vietnam's COVID-19 vaccination campaign

HANOI, November 10, 2022 -- The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Vietnam National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) jointly held the dissemination meeting for the MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity project in Vietnam. The project, in which PATH is an implementing partner, provided technical assistance to support the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the country.

MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity aims to strengthen routine immunization programs to overcome the entrenched obstacles contributing to stagnating and declining immunization rates and address the barriers to reaching zero-dose and under-immunized children with life-saving vaccines. The project also provides strategic technical support for COVID-19 vaccination and supports countries in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on immunization services. The project is implemented by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., along with PATH, Accenture Development Partnerships, Results for Development, CORE Group, and The Manoff Group.

Building upon USAID’s long-standing partnership with the health sector in Vietnam, MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity provides technical support to help the country reach last-mile communities with COVID-19 vaccination. The project works in five hard-to-reach, mountainous provinces: Dien Bien, Son La, Hoa Binh, Quang Nam, and Ninh Thuan.

When the project started, Vietnam was in the midst of rapidly implementing the largest-ever national COVID-19 vaccination campaign. To support the Vietnamese government in the bid to prevent and control the pandemic in a safe, effective, flexible, and timely manner, the project was rolled out at a great pace and intensity and accomplished impressive results. 7,712 health and non-health staff were thoroughly trained on the COVID-19 vaccination, and 1.7 million unvaccinated or under-vaccinated people were identified. From there, 1,318 mobile vaccination sites were supported to provide 738 thousand doses of COVID-19 vaccines to these identified marginalized populations.

These last mile of COVID-19 vaccination efforts will continue even after the project concludes. Healthcare staff in five project provinces were equipped with audacious digital tools that M-RITE developed to help them in microplanning, daily data reporting, and multi-sectoral coordination with robust support and commitment from local People’s Committees. The project’s intervention model is expected to be scaled up to other provinces and provides a helpful reference for other countries where COVID-19 vaccination campaigns are ramping up.

Deputy Mission Director Bradley Bessire, USAID Mission in Vietnam, NIHE Director Prof. Dang Duc Anh, Ph.D., and other leaders and healthcare officers from the Ministry of Health, General Department of Preventive Medicine, and national, regional Expanded Programme on Immunization offices, provincial departments of health, provincial Centers for Disease Control, WHO, and UNICEF were in attendance at the final dissemination workshop.

“Fundamental to the success of USAID M-RITE is the strong partnership with the Government of Vietnam, at the national and local level, to implement activities tailored to address the unique needs in each of the five focus provinces to respond to the COVID-19. We hope that the results will be shared, replicated, and maintained in the five provinces and expanded to other provinces across Vietnam”, Deputy Director Bradley Bessire stated at the event.

Prof. Dang Duc Anh expressed his appreciation for the tremendous achievements in the last nine months in the five provinces and extended his sincere gratitude for the support from USAID and the MOMENTUM project. He also recognized the contribution of the MOMENTUM project on timely health staff capacity building, efficient microplanning for the vaccination campaign, and vaccination coverage improvement for all, together with a series of supportive supervisions to ensure safe and effective deployment of the various types of COVID-19 vaccines, especially for vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations including elderly, underlying people, disability in remote and underserved areas to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccination.

Through the American Rescue Plan Act, USAID supports Vietnam’s COVID-19 response and helps accelerate equitable access to and delivery of safe and effective doses of COVID-19 vaccines. USAID also helps strengthen Vietnam’s health system capacity to respond to COVID-19 and detect and monitor future disease threats.