Expectations and Vietnam’s responses during COVID-19: potential human rights violations and related propositions

Background It appears that underneath many propositions or actions, there might have been certain expectations. The reality of the complexity of human beings and interactions within a society yields expectations which, in turn, further interact with each other. Methods This paper offers the first in-depth study on ‘expectations’ in bioethical and health law studies, taking Vietnam’s responses to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as an illustration. Results It defines ‘expectations’ as normative imaginaries that can induce or guide actions and inactions at individual and collective levels. Conclusions It argues that violations of human rights and certain related propositions within the Vietnamese context can be understood in terms of expectations. Within such contexts as Vietnam, expectations account for behaviours, including human rights violations. It suggests that ‘expectations’ is a fruitful concept for bioethical and health law studies. Studying expectations thus has implications for governance and future research agendas.