Minister of Labour and Vocational Training Ith Samheng has requested that the Garment Manufacturing Association in Cambodia (GMAC) work with factory owners and managers to bring in a team of medical nurses to every factory to facilitate the Covid-19 vaccination campaign that is expected to reach hundreds of thousands of workers.

Cambodia has approximately 750,000 workers employed in factories producing garments, footwear and travel goods.

In a letter addressed to GMAC president Van Sou Ieng on March 23, Samheng suggested that each factory prepare to deploy a standby medical nurse in order to quickly join the vaccination campaign once it begins.

“To protect the health of workers and the interests of the factories amid the pandemic, the government will organise a campaign to provide vaccinations free of charge to workers at factories and other enterprises in the near future,” Samheng wrote.

The letter urged the owners or managers of each garment factory and enterprise to send a list of their medical nurses to the labour ministry before March 26.

Samheng said: “Each factory or enterprise must prepare a room or a designated place for vaccinations and must ensure that their workers have voluntarily registered to receive Covid-19 vaccinations.

“Vaccination must take place according to set appointment times, and there must be a room or place where workers can relax for 30 minutes after being inoculated.”

He also suggested that each factory or enterprise assign a group of staff members to facilitate the vaccination work, instructing and reminding workers to get their second shots according to the date of their first shot and at a pre-determined location.

“Factory owners or managers must allow workers to take one day off with full pay each time they are vaccinated,” he said.

GMAC secretary-general Ken Loo welcomed the move.

“This is a good initiative by the government. Our sector is labour intensive and it is important to protect our workers. We fully support this programme and we thank the government for its efforts,” Loo said.

All medical nurses assigned to each factory will receive vaccination training, scheduled to take place on March 26. The training will be conducted online and the labour ministry will provide training orientation after receiving the list of medical nurses from the factories.

The government announced previously that vaccinations will also be conducted for other manufacturers beyond the garment, footwear and travel goods sectors and Prime Minister Hun Sen has stated that those in the informal economy will also receive free vaccinations.

Collective Union Movement of Workers president Pav Sina said on March 23 this was a good opportunity for workers to get vaccinated, noting that Covid-19 cases had been confirmed at two factories, raising concerns among workers at large.

“The important thing is that their decision to get vaccinated is voluntary. I think it should be their decision to participate,” he said.

Cambodia is scheduled to receive 1.5 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine from China on March 26.

Another 300,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine to the Ministry of National Defense are also expected to arrive in the Kingdom on March 31.

The Kingdom on March 23 recorded the fifth death from Covid-19 after a 62-year-old Cambodian woman died while undergoing treatment at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital in Phnom Penh. The fifth fatality was confirmed just hours after the Ministry of Health reported 33 new cases linked to the February 20 community outbreak.

Health ministry spokeswoman Or Vandine said bodies of Covid-19 patients handled in accordance with the law.

Separately, the government has announced that it will provide additional funds of 1.6 billion riel ($400,000) to 11 provinces for the support of migrant workers returning from Thailand who must quarantine in their hometowns.

Currently there are 11,010 workers under quarantine, with some scheduled to remain there through March 31, in the provinces of Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Pursat, Preah Vihear, Kandal, Svay Rieng, Prey Veng, Kratie, Takeo, Kampong Chhnang and Siem Reap.

As of March 23, Cambodia had recorded a total of 1,788 Covid-19 cases, with 783 remaining hospitalised and five deaths.