A medical doctor administering the Sinovac vaccines in Phnom Penh on August 9. Heng Chivoan
Ten private companies have submitted requests to the Ministry of Health seeking permission to import Covid-19 vaccines that are not currently available in Cambodia. The ministry is working on setting an appropriate price for vaccines administered by private entities to the public.
In an interview with The Post on August 9, Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) vice-president Lim Heng said health minister Mam Bun Heng had revealed that at least 10 different private firms have now requested permission to import rapid test kits and Covid-19 vaccines.
The information was shared during a meeting on August 2 between the ministry and CCC.
“We hope that the health ministry will be able to facilitate the registration of private companies as soon as possible to import vaccines. The private sector will import only vaccines and rapid test kits that differ from those that the government [is providing],” he said.
According to Lim Heng, the decision to import only vaccines and test kits not currently being used by the government was made in order to ensure that the vaccines in the state’s inventory are not at risk of being diverted for black market sales.
The government purchased vaccines are to be administered to people free of charge and those vaccines cannot be sold on the market by any private entity, he said.
He said CCC asked that the ministry intervene to set an appropriate price for testing and vaccinations for Covid-19. The ministry has already accepted the proposal and agreed to jointly discuss appropriate pricing.
“At this time, we cannot set the price for rapid testing or vaccines, but we just know that soon some private companies will be able to import Covid-19 vaccines into Cambodia,” he said.
Once the vaccines are imported, he noted, companies will be able to study the costs they incur while conducting testing and vaccinations and set an appropriate price acceptable to all parties without overcharging people or losing money by providing the service.
“The CCC’s request to let the private sector import alternate vaccines is intended to help ease the burdens on the state. It will provide additional funds to the state and private imports of vaccines will allow those who can afford it access to private services with alternate choices,” Lim Heng said.
In a bid to boost the government’s efforts at containing the spread of the virus, the health minister issued a letter on July 27 giving private firms the green light to import the vaccines and distribute rapid antigen test kits, with the brands eligible for use in the Kingdom restricted to those with the World Health Organisation’s approval.
The privately-run Royal Phnom Penh Hospital told The Post on August 5 that it had requested permission to import the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and administer them. The hospital’s supply team is now working on the process of purchasing the vaccines.
As of August 8, Covid-19 vaccinations in Cambodia have reached 78.73 per cent of the targeted adult population of 10 million and 14.19 per cent of the roughly two million children aged 12-17.
In total, the Kingdom has now vaccinated more than eight million people – or about 50.90 per cent, of the population of approximately 16 million.
