A health worker prepares a dose of Sinovac vaccine at Kakab commune in Phnom Penh's Por Sen Chey district on June 1. Heng Chivoan
Within the next few days Cambodia, will have vaccinated three million people towards its target of 10 million, according to Ministry of Health spokeswoman Or Vandine. The speedy vaccination campaign has been given the slogan “Cambodia: A small country with a big heart when it comes to helping people”.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Hun Sen has decided to take control of the leadership of the National Committee to Combat Covid-19 (NCCC), with five deputy ministers as deputy chairmen.
Vandine, who is also chairwoman of the national Covid-19 vaccination commission, said: “In the next few days, we will reach three million vaccinated people as we speed up our Covid-19 vaccination campaign. Cambodia is a small country with a big heart and very lucky to have Samdech Techo Prime Minister Hun Sen to help its people get vaccinated as quickly as possible,” she wrote on Twitter.
According to the health ministry’s report on June 13, Cambodia has vaccinated 2,939,543 people nationwide – in a campaign administered by the health ministry and the Ministry of National Defence – accounting for 29.40 per cent of the target number of 10 million people vaccinated.
On June 14, defence minister Tea Banh held a meeting to summarise the results of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign for residents in the six former red zone districts of Phnom Penh.
The defence ministry launched a Covid-19 vaccination campaign to inoculate people in the capital’s red zones on May 1, which ended in early June. According to the ministry’s report released on June 13, a total of 141,550 people were vaccinated in that campaign.
Hun Sen will now lead all pandemic efforts directly as the NCCC. The committee’s purpose is to combat, prevent and control the spread of Covid-19 in Cambodia, according to the sub-decree regarding the organisation and functions of the NCCC dated June 13.
The committee also has subordinate bodies, including the ad-hoc commission for Covid-19 vaccination, the ad-hoc commission for procurement for Covid-19 and the capital-provincial committee to combat Covid-19.
The same sub-decree adds that, where necessary, the government may establish a commission or other mechanisms at the request of the national committee to combat Covid-19.
Separately on June 14, during a meeting with newly appointed ambassador of the Czech Republic to Cambodia Martin Vavra, Hun Sen said the government was pushing hard on Covid-19 vaccinations and could reach the target number of 10 million by November.
