Vaccinations for Vietnam 2026: what you actually need

Are any vaccines required to enter Vietnam?

For most travellers, no. Vietnam does not require any vaccines to enter — not on a visa exemption, not with an e-visa, and not with an embassy visa. Immigration officers won't ask for a vaccination certificate.

Yellow fever: according to the CDC, Vietnam does not require a vaccination certificate for entry.

COVID-19: all pandemic-era entry rules have been lifted. No vaccination certificate is needed.

But "not required" is not the same as "not needed." The CDC, WHO and the UK NHS all recommend a specific set of vaccines for anyone travelling to Southeast Asia.

Recommended for every traveller

The CDC recommends the following vaccines for all travellers to Vietnam, regardless of how long you stay or where you go. Costs vary a lot by country and whether they are covered by your health service; the USD figures below are rough private-clinic estimates. The CDC also asks every international traveller to be fully vaccinated against measles (MMR), as cases are rising in many countries.

Hepatitis A — the number-one shot

This is the top recommendation for Vietnam. Hepatitis A spreads through contaminated food and water — and in Vietnam you will be trying street phở, iced coffee and seafood at night markets. Modern vaccines are well tolerated, and a single dose 2-4 weeks before you fly protects you for the trip.

Typhoid — for the street-food crowd

If you plan to work your way through bún chả, bánh mì and busy street markets, add typhoid to the list. One dose 2 weeks before departure; how long it protects depends on the vaccine, so ask your clinic.

Tetanus — check when you last had one

A booster is due every 10 years. Vietnam raises the odds of a wound: coral cuts, scooter scrapes, animal scratches. If you can't remember your last tetanus shot, get one. In many countries the booster is free or nearly free.

Hepatitis B — for anyone not yet vaccinated

Vietnam is a high-prevalence country for chronic hepatitis B. The CDC recommends the vaccine for all unvaccinated travellers, however long the trip. It matters most for a long stay (1+ month) or if you plan tattoos, piercings or unprotected sex. The catch: the full course takes up to 6 months (3 doses), though accelerated schedules exist — ask a travel clinic.

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Depends on your trip — the extra vaccines

These are not for everyone. Whether you need them depends on your route, how long you stay and how you travel.

Japanese encephalitis

Who needs it: long stays (1+ month), trips into rural areas (rice paddies, villages) and nights spent outside the cities.

A mosquito-borne viral infection. Across Asia there are roughly 100,000 clinical cases a year (WHO), and severe cases have a fatality rate of up to 30%.

Vaccine: Ixiaro. Two doses 28 days apart; start at least 5-6 weeks before you fly. Roughly $250-350 for the course.

Rabies

Who needs it: anyone likely to be around animals, or heading to remote areas more than a couple of hours from a hospital.

Rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms appear. Vietnam has plenty of stray dogs, and rabies is present.

The most effective prevention is … vaccination for humans immediately after being bitten by a dog or cat (or scratched and bleeding)VnExpress International, 2024

Vaccine: pre-exposure course of 2-3 doses over up to 28 days; start 4+ weeks out. Roughly $250-400 for the course.

Malaria prevention

Who needs it: people heading into rural, forested areas below 1,500 m. The CDC lists ten provinces for tablets, under their pre-2025 names: Bình Dương, Bình Phước, Đắk Lắk, Đắk Nông, Gia Lai, Khánh Hòa, Kon Tum, Lâm Đồng, Ninh Thuận and Tây Ninh. Since 1 July 2025 Đắk Nông has been part of Lâm Đồng, Ninh Thuận of Khánh Hòa and Bình Phước of Đồng Nai. If your route on the Hà Giang loop drops into low-lying villages, ask a travel clinic about your exact stops.

There is no malaria vaccine for travellers. Prevention is antimalarial tablets — atovaquone/proguanil (Malarone) or doxycycline — prescribed by a travel clinic. Start them a day or two before you enter a risk zone.

Here is the part people get wrong: the big cities have no malaria. The CDC reports none in Da Nang, Hai Phong, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang and Quy Nhon, and recommends no antimalarials for the Mekong and Red River Deltas, where cases are rare. Transmission is rural only. Lâm Đồng, the province around Da Lat, is on the CDC list for tablets, so ask a clinic before overnight stays in its countryside. For a normal beach or city holiday you do not need the pills.

Dengue and other tropical diseases

You can't vaccinate against every tropical infection. For several serious ones there is no traveller vaccine — protection is behavioural only.

Dengue fever

This is the tropical infection most likely to catch a traveller in Vietnam. By December 2025, Vietnam's Ministry of Health had logged 135,515 cases and 26 deaths for the year, over three-quarters of them in the south, as SGGP reported. The vector is the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which bites by day (unlike the malaria mosquito), so a daytime nap by the pool is no protection.

Dengue vaccines exist, but they are not a quick fix for a holiday. In Vietnam itself, Qdenga (Takeda) is licensed from age 4 with no test for past infection needed. Qdenga is two doses three months apart, so you would need to plan well ahead. More to the point, UK guidance (JCVI, via NHS TravelHealthPro) currently offers Qdenga only to people aged 4+ who have had dengue before — it is not advised for travellers who have never caught it, because a first infection after the jab can, in rare cases, be worse. The EU licence is broader, but for a one-off two-week trip most travel clinics won't recommend it. Ask yours if you are staying long or going back often.

Symptoms (4-14 days after a bite): high fever (39-40°C), severe headache behind the eyes, aching joints and muscles ("breakbone fever"), rash. The severe (haemorrhagic) form causes bleeding and a drop in blood pressure and can be fatal.

After the high fever had gone, those people assumed they had already recovered. However, for dengue fever, the period following high fever is the most critical, and patients must be carefully monitored every step of the wayPham Van Quang, ICU at Ho Chi Minh City Children's Hospital No. 1, VnExpress International, 2022

How to avoid dengue

1. DEET 30%+ repellent — apply in the morning and through the day
2. Long sleeves in the early morning and evening
3. Mosquito screens on windows (check your hotel)
4. Plug-in repellents and coils indoors

Most travel-insurance policies cover dengue treatment, but check yours actually includes tropical illness before you fly — our guide to travel insurance for Vietnam covers what to look for. Dengue is also the main health risk in our wider Vietnam safety guide.

Chikungunya and Zika

Both are spread by the same Aedes mosquito. They are far less common in Vietnam than dengue. There is no routine traveller vaccine; protection is the same — repellent and covering up.

The timeline — when to start

Ideally you start 6 months out. Realistically, 4-6 weeks. At the absolute latest, 2 weeks before departure.

6 months before you fly

• Start the hepatitis B course (3 doses: now → 1 month → 6 months)
• Check when you last had a tetanus booster (due every 10 years)
• If you're heading to highland areas, start the rabies pre-exposure course

4-6 weeks before

• Japanese encephalitis — 2 doses 28 days apart (if needed)
• Hepatitis A — 1 dose
• Rabies — start the course if you haven't already

2 weeks before

• Typhoid — 1 dose
• Tetanus — if it's not up to date
• Buy DEET 30%+ repellent

Before departure

• Save your travel-insurance assistance contact
• Pack a kit: paracetamol, oral rehydration salts, an anti-diarrhoeal, an antihistamine, repellent
• Photograph your immunisation record

What to do if you're short on time

Even with 5 days to go, get at least hepatitis A and a tetanus booster. Hepatitis A takes about 2 weeks to reach full protection but starts working sooner; a tetanus booster kicks in almost immediately.

Vaccines for children

Check before you go:

• Routine childhood immunisations — all scheduled vaccines should be up to date (measles, polio, diphtheria, whooping cough)
• For children under 6, some vaccines (hepatitis A) have a minimum age (usually 1 year). The CDC still advises a hepatitis A dose for infants 6-11 months old; it doesn't count towards the routine series, so check with your paediatrician

Additional for children:

• Japanese encephalitis — from 2 months old for long stays in rural areas
• Hepatitis A — from age 1, pediatric dose
• Rabies — as advised (children are more likely to approach animals and may not report a bite)

Common mistakes

1. "I don't need shots, it's a week at a resort." Hepatitis A spreads through food and water. Even at a resort you eat in restaurants, drink iced drinks and try fruit. A ~$60 vaccine versus 2-6 weeks of illness.

2. Starting too late. Hepatitis B needs up to 6 months; Japanese encephalitis needs about 5 weeks. If your trip is in 2 weeks, you can't complete those courses.

3. Forgetting tetanus. A booster every 10 years — but who keeps track? Check your record. If your last shot was in school, it's time.

4. Confusing rabies prevention with treatment. The pre-exposure vaccine doesn't replace seeing a doctor after a bite; it simplifies the follow-up. If a dog bites you, go to a hospital even if you're vaccinated.

5. Thinking dengue is "just the flu." The mild form does feel flu-like. The severe (haemorrhagic) form can be fatal. DEET repellent isn't for the paranoid — it's basic protection in the tropics.

Frequently asked questions