Frontline workers getting their third vaccine doses in Banteay Meanchey province on August 8. BANTEAY MEANCHEY PROVINCIAL ADMINISTATION
The seven Cambodian provinces bordering Thailand have begun vaccinating frontline workers including medical staff and military personnel with third booster doses, as the Kingdom’s vaccination drive reaches over 50 per cent of its total population of 16 million.
The campaign began after Prime Minister Hun Sen instructed Or Vandine, head of the national Covid-19 vaccination committee, to start administering AstraZeneca vaccines as third doses to frontline workers in the border provinces – Koh Kong, Pursat, Battambang, Pailin, Banteay Meanchey, Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear.
In an audio message on August 6, Hun Sen said “this task must be performed post-haste”, adding that there are between 30,000-40,000 frontline workers between the medical staff and members of the armed forces.
He noted that frontline workers have a higher risk of contracting Covid-19 – especially the Delta variant – as thousands of migrant workers are returning to Cambodia and many of them have tested positive due to the severity of the outbreak in Thailand and the worker’s living conditions there.
Vandine said two helicopters and some trucks were used to transport the AstraZeneca vaccines to the provinces on August 7.
She said that using AstraZeneca as a booster dose for those who have been vaccinated with Sinopharm or Sinovac poses no risk and instead increases the response capacity of a person’s immune system with increased antibodies to target the virus. But, she noted, this did not mean that Sinopharm or Sinovac did not produce antibodies when administered.
Hun Sen said last week that those who had been vaccinated with Sinovac or Sinopharm would receive AstraZeneca as their booster doses, and vice versa.
On August 7, the national Covid-19 vaccination commission issued instructions to confirm the prime minister’s decision. The medics administering the vaccines will write “third dose” on the card and “AZ” – referring to AstraZeneca – along with the date and location where the vaccines were given.
Several provinces – including Banteay Meanchey and Koh Kong – started vaccinating their frontline workers as well as civil servants and officials ranging from commune to provincial levels. These vaccinations will continue until August 12.
There are no official statistics reported regarding third dose vaccinations by press time.
As of August 7, Cambodia had vaccinated more than 7.79 million people, or 77.92 per cent, of the targeted adult population of 10 million.
For vaccinations among the 12-17 age group, more than 250,000, or 12.82 per cent of the nearly two million children and adolescents, have now received their first doses since the campaign began on August 1.
Compared to the overall population of 16 million, 50.28 per cent have been vaccinated.
The government accelerates the vaccination campaigns for both adults and children as it seeks to stem the spread of Covid-19, especially its more contagious and deadly Delta variant.
The Ministry of Health on August 8 announced that 58 more cases of the coronavirus Delta variant were confirmed by the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge on August 7, bringing the total to 385.
