A teacher is inoculated with the Sinovac vaccine in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district on Thursday. Hong Menea
Cambodia kicked of a large-scale Covid-19 vaccination campaign on April 1, with one million doses to be administered per month.
To assist these efforts, the Japanese government has donated nearly $1 million in financial aid to improve Cambodia’s cold chain storage capabilities, which are necessary to preserve certain vaccines.
In Kampong Cham province, provincial health department director Kim Sour Phirun said his province had received 39,000 doses which would be enough to inoculate 18,000 people with a two-dose regimen.
“We are prepared to inoculate residents at 29 vaccination sites in the province. We have 360 medical staff who received training for the vaccination campaign,” he said.
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport also began the campaign nationwide for teachers as well as other staff members at both public and private schools.
The opening day went smoothly, according the ministry spokesperson Ros Soveacha.
“Some 168,000 staff members from educational institutions across the country have signed up on a voluntary basis for vaccinations,” he said.
The Ministry of Health said on March 31 that 745,000 people from the targeted priority groups who are aged 18 or older will be given their first dose of the Sinovac vaccine in April.
UNICEF said on April 1 that Japan had donated nearly $1 million in funding to support the Cambodian government in its Covid-19 vaccination efforts, with the goal of improving Cambodia’s cold chain storage capabilities through enhanced infrastructure, better equipment and transportation and improved training for healthcare staff.
“This grant will boost the capacity of Cambodia’s healthcare system as the nation rolls out the largest and most rapid vaccination programme in its history,” the press release said.
Japanese ambassador to Cambodia Masahiro Mikami said the ability to deliver the vaccines was as important as the vaccines themselves because unused vaccines help no one.
He noted that Japan was committed to supporting the improvement of vaccination programmes across the developing world.
“We will continue to cooperate with both UNICEF and the Cambodian government until we can truly say that together we have ended and recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
UNICEF Representative in Cambodia Foroogh Foyouzat thanked the Japanese government for stepping up again to support Cambodia in time of need with Covid-19 cases continually on the rise this past month.
“This global pandemic knows no borders, and vaccines must reach the people at greatest risk from the virus. The funds provided by the government of Japan will be invaluable in helping us to continue supporting the Cambodian government with the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines while strengthening the health system.
“This is a crucial paving stone in the road towards recovery,” she said.
As of April 1, Cambodia had recorded a total of 2,477 Covid-19 cases with 1,217 receiving ongoing treatment and 16 confirmed deaths.
