The profound effect of COVID-19 pandemic has not eluded Vietnam, a lower-middle-income country that borders China, the country where the outbreak originated. Currently facing a second wave, Vietnam experienced several months of insignificant community-transmission, when the epidemic was effectively under control. This paper provides an account of the policies developed by the national COVID-19 response team during the first wave, from January to July 2020. Three key components were identified, including (i) the timely and decisive responses from the national and local authorities in the early phase of the pandemic, (ii) a society-wide approach, supported by an effective risk communication strategy which managed to gain the public trust, and (iii) an effective preventive medicine and infectious disease control system, residing in early case identification, strict isolation, effective contact tracing and compulsory quarantine of close contacts. While several other important components of the health system, such as financing and human resources remain largely under-explored, the results of this study show that a mixture of measures may lead to an effective epidemic management.