Ministry of Health spokeswoman Or Vandine recently announced that Cambodia will wait for approval from the World Health Organisation (WHO) before it administers Covid-19 vaccines to any of its citizens.

The announcement came after China and Russia declared they had manufactured Covid-19 vaccines fit for humans.

“To use any vaccine, it requires proper checks. We do not know any specific information from WHO about any vaccines that can be used and given to citizens officially,” Vandine said.

Recently, China developed its Ad5-nCoV vaccine while Russia created its Sputnik V vaccines. Both countries announced the vaccines could be used by people worldwide.

The countries made their announcements after testing their vaccines and determining them effective against Covid-19.

However, researchers from western countries are still concerned about the safety of the vaccine as it has not been acknowledged by the WHO.

Vandine said further studies are being conducted to verify the safety of the vaccines.

Cambodia is a member of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) and the ministry has already considered requesting vaccine support for Cambodia, she said.

According to a ministry press release, there have been no new Covid-19 cases in Cambodia over the past nine days. There were 38 recoveries over the timeframe, which increased the country’s total recoveries to 263 among 273 total cases. Ten people are being treated in hospitals for Covid-19.

The ministry said there were no community transmissions of Covid-19 during the five-day replacement Khmer New Year holiday.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has reiterated his calls for citizens to practise proper hygiene.

“I call on people to further take care of their health to not get infected by Covid-19 and follow the advice of the health ministry by wearing masks and washing hands with sanitiser. Covid-19 is a fast and hazardous pandemic,” he said.