A woman is inoculated with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at Preah Ang Duong Hospital in Phnom Penh on Wednesday. Hong Menea
As of March 9, more than 188,000 people in Cambodia had been vaccinated with the Sinopharm vaccines donated by China and with AstraZeneca’s Covishield vaccines provided through the COVAX initiative.
Administered by the ministries of Health and National Defence, the number includes civilians and members of the armed forces.
The health ministry said from February 10 to March 9, a total of 84,544 people have voluntarily received their first shot of the Sinopharm vaccine and another 4,962 have received their first dose of Covishield.
A total of 3,280 people came to get their second shot of Sinopharm, while the number of people receiving a second Covishield dose has not been reported as yet.
“If we add up the number of people who have come to get their vaccination, then the total figure is 103,553 with another 14,047 who weren’t eligible for vaccination due to a pre-existing health condition,” the health ministry said.
The defence ministry said 98,520 of its personnel had received their first doses of Sinopharm in the same period while 30,366 had already received their second shots.
Health minister Mam Bun Heng announced on March 6 that Covishield would be provided to government officials and those aged 60 or older from March 10.
The roll out will begin with Phnom Penh and the provinces of Kandal and Preah Sihanouk, which are the current Covid-19 hotspots.
“Those who have received their first shot of the made-in-India vaccine licensed by AstraZeneca have to get their second shot within four to eight weeks after the first shot,” Bun Heng said.
Vaccination with Sinopharm continues as usual at designated hospitals in the capital – with the exception of the National Paediatric Hospital where it has been postponed as available doses for first shots have run out.
Ung Sophal, deputy director of the National Pediatric Hospital, confirmed to The Post on March 10 that Sinopharm vaccines for those aged between 18 and 59 are now out-of-stock for first doses.
“We don’t have any more vaccines for those who come to get their first shot. We only have vaccines in reserve for those who come to get their second shots,” he said, adding that he did not know when more Sinopharm vaccines would arrive.
Sophal noted that those aged 60 or older can still come to the National Paediatric Hospital to get a Covishield shot.
Cambodia started vaccinations with Sinopharm on February 10 after China committed to providing one million doses of the vaccine, 600,000 of which arrived in Cambodia on February 7. An additional 400,000 doses are expected to arrive before the Khmer New Year in mid-April.
Thus far, 324,000 out of 1.1 million doses of Covishield vaccines have arrived in the Kingdom. World Health Organisation officials have said the rest are expected to arrive by the end of May.
