Checklist · 2026
Tet holiday clinic hours in Vietnam: how to plan ahead
Tet holiday clinic hours in Vietnam are different from normal hours, and the gap can catch families off guard. The 2026 break is nine days long, so plan your health visits before it starts.
Here is the short answer. Hospital emergency care stays open every day of Tet. Routine clinics, private practices and labs often cut their hours or close for part of the break. Book what you can now, and keep a plan for the days when your usual clinic is shut.
When the break starts and ends
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh approved a nine day Tet break on 13 October 2025. It runs from 14 February to 22 February 2026. That is the 27th day of the last lunar month through the 6th day of the first lunar month. Tet itself, the first day of the lunar new year, falls on 17 February 2026.
Five of the nine days are statutory holidays under the Labour Code. The other four are normal weekend days. The Ministry of Home Affairs proposed the schedule, and it covers state employees. Work for the public sector resumes on 23 February.
Private employers choose their own schedule, based on how they operate. They are asked to stay close to the public timetable, and they must tell staff at least 30 days ahead. This matters for you. A private clinic may open earlier or close later than a public office, so its hours may not match the official dates.
Which services stay open
Emergency departments in hospitals do not close for Tet. The Ministry of Health has a long habit of ordering round the clock duty before the holiday. In a letter sent on 16 January 2025, for the last Tet, it told all medical facilities to give emergency patients prompt care, with no delays and no refusals.
That letter asked for 24 hour cover of hospital leadership shifts, the emergency hotline, specialist medical shifts, and administrative, logistics and security support. It also asked for duty rosters to be posted in the relevant departments. Hospitals were told to keep enough essential medicines, blood, IV fluids and emergency equipment, with traffic accidents and food poisoning named as the likely risks.
The Ministry has used the same pattern for other holidays. Before the April and May break in 2024, it asked hospitals to run a 24 hour hotline and to send daily figures, even on days when nothing happened. Expect the same kind of duty system for Tet 2026. Official orders for this year may follow in the weeks ahead, so watch for them.
What this means for you is simple. If someone has chest pain, trouble breathing, heavy bleeding, a bad accident or a very high fever in a child, go to the nearest hospital emergency department. Do not wait for a clinic to reopen.
What often closes or slows down
Routine services work differently. A family clinic, a dental office, a private specialist or a small lab may close for several days, or open for a few hours only. Many staff travel to their home towns. Some places close around the 29th and 30th of the lunar month and the first days of the new year, and then reopen in stages.
Hospital outpatient departments that handle scheduled visits may also run at a reduced level. The exact days differ by hospital and by city. We cannot give one list that fits every clinic, so treat any general pattern as a prompt to ask, not as a promise.
Lab work is a good example. A blood test or a scan result may take longer to come back, because the lab is closed on some days. If a result is needed for a decision, ask for the date you will receive it before you book.
What to arrange before the break
Use this checklist in the weeks before 14 February.
- Book routine visits early. Check-ups, vaccinations and follow-up visits are easier to place in late January or after the break ends than on the days around it.
- Ask your clinic for its Tet schedule. Call or message and ask for the first and last open days, the hours, and a phone number for urgent questions.
- Talk to your own doctor about regular medicines. If you take something every day, ask how much you should have on hand for a nine day break. Your doctor or pharmacist decides this, not a website.
- Collect your records. Keep recent test results, a list of your medicines and any allergy information in one place, on paper and on your phone.
- Save emergency details. Write down the address of the nearest hospital with an emergency department.
- Plan for children and older family members. If you are travelling, find the nearest hospital at your destination before you leave.
If you travel for Tet
Many people leave the cities to visit family. Health services in a smaller town may have fewer staff than a big city hospital, even on a normal week. Look up the nearest hospital to where you will stay, and note how far it is.
If you are a foreign resident, check whether your health insurance covers care in the province you are visiting, and what papers you must bring. Keep your insurance card and passport details with you.
A simple plan in three steps
First, finish routine care by about 12 February. Second, confirm the Tet hours of any clinic you may need. Third, know where the nearest emergency department is. With those three done, the nine day break is much less stressful.
Sources
- Vietnam Government News Agency, "Prime Minister approves 9-day Lunar New Year holiday in 2026," en.baochinhphu.vn, 14 October 2025.
- Viet Nam News, "MoH orders timely care for emergency patients during Tet," vietnamnews.vn, 17 January 2025.
- Viet Nam News, "Ministry of Health requires urgent emergency for patients during coming holiday," vietnamnews.vn, 24 April 2024.