Newly arrived Sinovac vaccines will be given to 745,000 preregistered people, mostly government officials, doctors and employees at selected workplaces, starting Thursday, the Health Ministry said.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry said the 1.5 million doses of the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine, which arrived to the country last week, would be given to civil servants, local officials, ministerial staff, and lawmakers and their families, as well as doctors, teachers, journalists and other priority groups, all of whom must be registered and under the age of 60.
In Kandal, provincial governor Kong Sophorn said a provincial working group had set up vaccination centers in 22 locations with 33 teams of nine doctors to handle the vaccination campaign.
Preah Sihanouk province has previously announced it is making vaccines available to members of the general public, who must sign up at registration sites to be set up by commune authorities.
Men Sothey, a 52-year-old teacher in Battambang province, said he had decided to register for the Covid-19 shot.
“I decided to go for the vaccination — I have to think about my health first,” Sothey said.
An additional 700,000 doses of another Chinese vaccine, Sinopharm, arrived in Cambodia on Wednesday, state media AKP reported. The country previously received 600,000 Sinopharm doses.
Cambodia has also been given 324,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the Covax program. AstraZeneca is the only vaccine currently available in Cambodia that has emergency use approval from the World Health Organization.
Prime Minister Hun Sen said earlier this week that the government has a goal of distributing 1 million doses a month. He has previously said that the ultimate goal is to vaccinate 10 million residents.
