Health workers in Kampong Speu province administer Covid-19 vaccination on March 1. Kampong Speu provincial Administration
Provincial authorities have prepared accommodations for medical staff assigned by the government to carry out large-scale vaccination campaigns throughout the country.
Some provinces, however, say they have a sufficient number of their own medical specialists on site and do not need additional help, thereby obviating the need for such preparations.
Oddar Meanchey deputy provincial governor Dy Rado told The Post on March 30 that officials had already prepared accommodations in advance of the arrival of the volunteer medical teams.
“In Oddar Meanchey province we have accommodations in Samrong town, Anlong Veng and Tapaing Prasat districts. Chongkal and Banteay Ampil districts have no hotels or guesthouses, but medical professionals working there can travel in from town because it isn’t very far,” he said.
He added that he had yet to receive a definitive report from the government regarding the number of volunteer medical teams being sent to his province, but that they already have their specialists inoculating residents aged 60 and over. Oddar Meanchey has 260,000 residents in total.
Preah Sihanouk provincial governor Kuoch Chamroeun has instructed district governors in the province to take a headcount of motor taxi, tuk-tuk and taxi drivers and other transporters of tourists who will be volunteering for Covid-19 jabs.
“To protect [public] health, those in these professions will be given Covid-19 vaccinations free of charge during the upcoming campaign because they are at greater risk of infection,” Chamroeun said in a letter.
Preah Sihanouk provincial hall spokesman Kheang Phearum said on March 30 that the province had already prepared accommodations for volunteer doctors, but he could not yet confirm the number of locations where vaccinations will be carried out.
Kampong Speu provincial governor Vei Samnang said his province would have no problems carrying out the vaccination campaign because there are enough medical professionals on hand.
“We don’t need to find hotels or guesthouses for medical teams assigned by the government. Kampong Speu already has sufficient medical specialists to get the work done,” he said.
Samnang added that the province had established nine vaccination sites with appropriate medical facilities to treat anyone should they have an allergic reaction to the jab.
“We have 90 medical professionals preparing to administer this vaccination. We’ve divided them into 10 groups, each comprising nine members and we plan to inoculate at least 2,000 residents per day,” he said.
On March 29, Hun Sen announced a large-scale Covid-19 vaccination campaign that will roll out at least one million doses per month nationwide until at least 10 million people have been vaccinated.
As of March 30, Cambodia had recorded a total of 2,377 Covid-19 cases with 1,186 receiving ongoing treatment and 11 confirmed deaths from the decease.
