HANOI, June 15, 2022 — Today, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) hosted the mid-term review meeting for the MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity project in Vietnam. The project provides technical assistance to support the country’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity aims to strengthen routine immunization programs to overcome entrenched obstacles that contribute to stagnating and declining immunization rates and address barriers to reaching zero-dose and under-immunized children with life-saving vaccines. The project also provides technical support for COVID-19 vaccination and supports countries to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic 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 on 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 communities in five hard-to-reach, mountainous provinces — Dien Bien, Son La, Hoa Binh, Quang Nam, and Ninh Thuan — with COVID-19 vaccinations.

Within its first six months, the project had accelerated the adaptation and revision of COVID-19 vaccination training materials from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health to train almost 4,000 health and non-health staff involved in the vaccination campaign. Additionally, in collaboration with the provincial Expanded Programs on Immunization (EPIs), the project developed strategies to increase last-mile vaccination based on situation analyses in each province. A COVID-19 vaccination microplanning tool was adapted to help health care workers plan for each vaccine arrival and to establish 716 mobile vaccination sites, at which 397,863 people in the five provinces have been vaccinated.

USAID Vietnam’s Health Office Director Ritu Singh; NIHE Director Dang Duc Anh, Ph.D.; and other leaders and health care officers from the Ministry of Health, General Department of Preventive Medicine, national/regional EPI offices, provincial departments of health, provincial Centers for Disease Control, WHO, and UNICEF attended the review meeting.

During the event, Ms. Singh said, “We were very happy to see the enthusiasm and the strong support of people at the provincial, district, and commune levels. We hope that the results and lessons from USAID-supported activities will be shared, replicated, and maintained in other places in Vietnam.”

Dr. Dang expressed his gratitude for the project’s vaccination campaign support in the selected provinces. He emphasized the need for capacity building to ensure safe and effective deployment of the newly introduced COVID-19 vaccine, especially in the context of an unprecedented national vaccination campaign. He especially valued the project’s support for microplanning to improve vaccination coverage for all.

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 vaccines. USAID also helps strengthen Vietnam’s health system capacity to respond to COVID-19 and detect disease threats.