PM Targets 1 Million Covid-19 Vaccinations a Month

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Prime Minister Hun Sen receives a first dose of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at Phnom Penh’s Calmette Hospital on March 4, 2021. (AKP)
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Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday expressed hopes for “large-scale” vaccinations in the country soon with a target of 1 million people vaccinated a month.

Cambodia received 1.5 million purchased doses of the Sinovac vaccine on Friday, adding to previous shipments of 600,000 Sinopharm shots and 324,000 AstraZeneca vaccines.

Though Hun Sen has set a target of 10 million people vaccinated for Covid-19 — which would require as many as 20 million doses — nearly two months since the public vaccination campaign’s rollout on February 10, the number of people vaccinated remains under half a million.

“In the future, our vaccination process will be on a large-scale, with the intervention of doctors from the national level,” Hun Sen said in a speech posted to his Facebook page.

“The vaccination process … cannot be delayed further, and in this one month, our goal is to get at least 1 million people vaccinated,” he said.

Doctors at private clinics would be asked to volunteer to travel to the provinces to help with the campaign, he said.

The central government would pay for food and travel costs from Phnom Penh, while provincial governments would be responsible for accommodation, Hun Sen said.

“As I know, there are 300 places now available and ready for our people to go and get the vaccine, but the problem is with the doctors,” Hun Sen said. “State doctors must not get your daily work disrupted.”

The country is currently in the midst of its worst Covid-19 outbreak to date, with over 1,000 active cases. Before the current outbreak, the country had not seen more than 100 cases at one time.

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