PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Sen officially received 523,100 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines donated by Hungary on Friday morning (18 March).

The vaccine shipment arrived in the Kingdom on 15 March.

Speaking at the handover ceremony this morning, the Advisor and Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of Hungary in Cambodia, István Bakos, said that as a friend of the Kingdom, Hungary is pleased to support Cambodia in its efforts to fight Covid-19 and reduce the negative impact of the pandemic on the lives of Cambodians.

"The donation of more than half a million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines today is a new step in bilateral cooperation," he said. "Hungary is committed to assisting Cambodia's development for the mutual benefit of our two countries. We believe that providing assistance in times of need is real help.”

At the handover ceremony, Prime Minister Hun Sen thanked the Government and people of Hungary for the humanitarian gestures made to Cambodia as well as to the world.

He stressed that vaccination is Cambodia's top priority in preventing the spread of Covid-19 and re-opening socio-economic conditions.

"Cambodia is expected to be able to restore and stimulate economic growth, by improving key economic drivers affected by Covid-19 and finding new potential drivers from other sectors," he said.

This is the second vaccine donation made to Cambodia from a European member state after Poland, who donated 300,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last February.

Currently, the vaccine in stock in Cambodia is close to 10 million doses, while the Kingdom still plans to buy an additional 3 million doses for extra vaccine security. Some countries have pledged to provide more vaccines to Cambodia, including China, who has pledged to send 5 million vaccines in the first half of 2022.

Cambodia has so far vaccinated more than 92% of the total population of 16 million people aged three and above.

^{PHOTO: EAC NEWS}