Any individual who contracts Covid-19 despite having received their first dose of coronavirus vaccine – and then recovers – is not required to take the second shot, according to Ministry of Health spokeswoman Or Vandine.

Vandine, who is also head of the ad-hoc national commission for the Covid-19 vaccine programme, explained that people produce antibodies after the first dose.

“If you tested positive for Covid-19, you need to get proper treatment. But after recovering, there is no need to get your second shot because you’d already have developed neutralising antibodies,” Vandine was quoted as saying on the Ministry of Information website.

Vandine noted that a first dose does not necessarily protect an individual from contracting the virus, but rather serves to stimulate immunoglobulin production.

On the other hand, she added that vaccines do help reduce the severity of the disease, and prevent hospitalisations and deaths.

As of April 22, Cambodia had vaccinated a total of 1,281,406 people including civilians and members of the armed forces.