Army mobilised for large-scale vaccination exercise
PHNOM PENH: Cambodia has mobilised its army to carry out a large-scale campaign to vaccinate up to 500,000 people, in a bid to stop the spread of Covid19.
The army’s medical corps started giving out jabs in red-zone areas of the capital Phnom Penh since Saturday morning.
The nation of 16 million people saw a spike in infections since late February and has reported almost 14,000 cases so far.
According to a Khmer Times report, the Armed Forces Deputy Commander-in-Chief, General Ith Sarath, said more than 800,000 people and workers need to be vaccinated in the red zones.
About 29 per cent of them, or 233,460, have already been vaccinated, and about 100,000 workers have also received the first dose.
More than 1.3 million Cambodians, foreigners, diplomats and non-governmental organisation workers have been vaccinated so far.
There are four red-zone districts — Dangkor, Meanchey, Por Senchey and Kampol — with about 33 communities.
Phnom Penh has also been placed under a strict lockdown until next week as it tries to control the virus spread, which was triggered by what it calls the Feb 20 community event.
It started when several Covid19 patients escaped from a quarantine centre after bribing a security guard.
In red zones, people are barred from leaving their homes but exemptions are granted to those who need to leave for medical reasons, or other emergencies, or as permitted by the authorities.
Authorities said about 470,000 people and workers aged above 18 remain to be vaccinated during the campaign.
Some 900,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccines have been received from the government and are stored with the military, with 500,000 of them being Sinovac and the balance Sinopharm vaccines.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Tea Banh said the vaccination campaign in the red zones was scheduled to last only one month and vaccination sites had been set up in 44 locations in the 33 communities.
He added that the ministry planned to vaccinate everyone in the red zones within 15 days with the army expected to visit vaccination centres set up by village administrations.
Cambodia has received more than four million doses of vaccine, including 1.7 million doses of Sinopharm donated by China.
The Health Ministry reported three more Covid-19 deaths and 388 new cases on Saturday.
The country’s death toll now stands at 96.
Of the 387 cluster cases, Phnom Penh recorded the most infections at 331, followed by Banteay Meanchey at 35 and Prey Veng at eight.