People get Covid-19 booster vaccination at Phsar Chas Market in the capital’s Daun Penh district earlier this month. Heng Chivoan
The government has instructed local government working groups at all levels to support sub-national authorities in mobilising people to get their third Covid-19 vaccine dose to protect themselves from the deadly disease.
Following an order from Prime Minister Hun Sen, Minister of Interior Sar Kheng instructed the chairperson of each government working group to visit outreach centres across the country to support and motivate people who have received their second dose to keep their vaccinations up to date.
In a letter addressed to the working groups seen by The Post on May 25, Sar Kheng said: “The government has noted that the number of people receiving their third dose has dropped dramatically, leading to concerns about weakening herd immunity or immunodeficiency against the new strains of the coronavirus found in some countries, including several in the region.”
Along with this guidance, Sar Kheng also instructed them to support commune authorities in each village to collect statistics on the vaccination status of residents and share the results with town and district administrations. Results would then be summarised and passed to municipal and provincial administrations, he said.
Working groups should continue to cooperate with sub-national authorities on a regular basis to ensure that all members of the public aged six and older were up to date with their vaccinations.
According to the Ministry of Health, as of May 25 vaccinations had reached 93.94 per cent the Kingdom’s estimated population of 16 million. Over nine million people had received a third dose, while just over two million had received their fourth.
Speaking at the 78th Annual Session of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) on May 23, Hun Sen reiterated that Cambodia has used vaccination as a key strategic weapon in the fight against Covid-19.
In the past 19 days, Cambodia had reported zero new Covid-19 cases, with just seven patients remaining hospitalised.
As of May 26, Cambodia had recorded a total of 136,262 Covid-19 cases with 133,201 recoveries and 3,056 fatalities.
