Kingdom second in ASEAN for jabs
CAMBODIA is now second only to Singapore for the number of vaccinations it has provided among the ASEAN countries according to Prime Minister Hun Sen, who noted this achievement in remarks made on April 28 after another 400,000 doses of the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccines donated by China arrived in Cambodia.
Cambodia has now vaccinated 12.4 per cent of its population, which is second after Singapore at 37.48 per cent, among the 10 ASEAN member states.
The 400,000 vaccine doses that arrived on April 28 are the third shipment of the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccines delivered to Cambodia, with 600,000 doses delivered in the first on February 7 and then a second shipment of 700,000 doses on March 31.
“Cambodia has managed to vaccinate about 1.3 million people so far, making us the second most-vaccinated nation in ASEAN after Singapore, which has vaccinated a very impressive number of their people already,” he said.
Ministry of Health secretary of state Youk Sambath was on hand for the arrival of the latest shipment of Sinopharm vaccines at the Phnom Penh International
Airport. She noted that the Chinese government has so far provided a total of 1.7 million doses of vaccines as humanitarian aid to Cambodia.
“As per Prime Minister Hun Sen’s order, we will use them to accelerate our vaccination drive in Phnom Penh and Kandal province to contain the ongoing outbreak,” she said.
To date, between humanitarian aid and direct purchases from China, Cambodia has obtained a total of 3.7 million doses of vaccines – 1.7 million doses of the Sinopharm jab and two million of the Sinovac, according to Sambath.
According to Sambath, another one million doses of Sinovac vaccines will arrive in Cambodia on May 10, and additional shipments of Chinese vaccines will continue to arrive in the future, with some being donations and others paid orders.
The Chinese embassy in Cambodia stated that China and Cambodia are like brothers and sisters or members of the same family.
“In the fight against the novel coronavirus, the Chinese government and people will always stand with the Royal Government and the Cambodian people together to overcome all obstacles,” the embassy said.
According to the embassy, Beijing recently donated a
shipment of a traditional Chinese medicine called Lianhua Qingwen that is made from 13 different herbs and is said to date back as early as the Han dynasty. The traditional medicine donation was purportedly valued at over $200,000.
“We believe that under the shelter and protection of His
Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni and under the wise leadership of Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia, that the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Cambodian people will certainly be able to overcome all obstacles and be able to successfully
overcome the Covid-19 virus soon,” the embassy enthused.
In addition to the 3.7 million doses of vaccines obtained from China, Cambodia has also received 324,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the COVAX Facility of the World Health Organisation.