Health Ministry spokesperson Or Vandine posted a speech on Thursday saying that 2.13 million people had been vaccinated with at least their first doses in Phnom Penh — or 99.2 percent of the city’s population. She also raised the possibility of securing third doses for people in the future.
An apparent outbreak of hundreds of cases — at a factory where workers say 80 percent were vaccinated — is a reminder that ending the Covid-19 pandemic is not a simple matter, health experts say.
Recent research and manufacturer guidelines say some of the Covid-19 vaccines available in Cambodia are likely more effective when individuals wait longer for their second shots, as vaccines have been distributed in some cases at an interval as short as two weeks.
Exiled opposition politician Sam Rainsy urged Cambodians to receive the currently available Chinese vaccines to protect themselves from Covid-19, though Prime Minister Hun Sen doubted Rainsy’s sincerity amid a global vaccine shortage.
Garment workers who aren’t vaccinated for Covid-19 could eventually be barred from factories and lose their jobs, Labor Ministry spokesperson Heng Sour said on Wednesday.
Increasing travel by people in their 20s, 30s and 40s, the emergence of new Covid-19 variants, and a global vaccine shortage are among factors that are prolonging the pandemic and will lead to further coronavirus outbreaks in the region, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.
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.
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 has replenished its Covid-19 vaccine stores with 1.5 million doses of China’s Sinovac-produced vaccine, the first vaccine purchased by the government rather than being donated.
Cambodia has rolled out two Covid-19 vaccines, each requiring two doses, with an about 80 percent efficacy rate in trials. From WHO approval to age eligibility and efficacy against new variants, here’s how the Sinopharm and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines compare.
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