I think you are comparing Apple with oranges here. React doesn't have a ViewModel notion that would binds data with Component. The binding is happening in the templates themselves so in the Component themselves and there is no in-between layer AFAIK.
If you are looking for exactly this feature you might be disappointed.
I have used those 2 frameworks in the past. Could you point me to the documentation about ViewModel in Vue.js I wasn't able to find anything relevant other than:
> Although not strictly associated with the MVVM pattern, Vue’s design was partly inspired by it. As a convention, we often use the variable vm (short for ViewModel) to refer to our Vue instance.
I am sure it wouldn't be very hard to develop such a layer within React if needed.
If you are looking for exactly this feature you might be disappointed.