PM Receives 2.35 Million Doses of Covid-19 Vaccine from Australia

Posted Dec 26, 2021 21:53 by Darshana Gauchan
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PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Sen presided over the handover ceremony for Pfizer BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccines donated by the Government of Australia at Phnom Penh International Airport on Sunday night. Around 783,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccines arrived on Sunday night, and another 1,567,530 doses is expected to arrive on Tuesday.

Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed that he was very happy and thankful to the Government and people of Australia for providing vaccines to support Cambodia during the Covid-19 crisis. He stated that “This donation is a good gesture by the Australian Government to the people and Government of Cambodia, as well as to humanity as a whole, in the fight against Covid-19, especially in areas where Cambodia is adapting to a new normal path in the context of Covid-19.”

He continued to say that since the outbreak and spread of Covid-19 began in Cambodia, the Royal Government has clearly determined that vaccines are the only way to control and overcome this deadly disease. With this in mind, the government has mobilized a nationwide vaccination program which has seen everyone aged five and above receive the vaccine in Cambodia.

He added that as a result, more than 90% of Cambodia’s 16 million population has been vaccinated, as of 26 December 2021. The success of the vaccination campaign has allowed the country to fully reopen since 1 November 2021, with high vigilance and responsibility. He continued that despite the global concern about the new Omicron variant, Cambodia is not worried and will continue to run its economy with strict safety measures and a high level of vigilance in place.

Continuing on the subject of Omicron, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced that Cambodia has detected 15 new imported cases of Omicron in the Kingdom, which means Cambodia now has a total of 31 imported Omicron cases in the country. The Prime Minister urged everyone to take caution but to not panic because this new variant has so far shown to not be as deadly as previous variants, such as Delta.

Speaking on the subject of the national high school diploma exams, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced that he had spoken to the Ministry of Education to reconsider the current rule stating that students who test positive for Covid-19 cannot take the exams. As a result, those students who have tested positive for Covid-19 will be allowed to take the exams directly from Covid-19 treatment centers or hospitals.

According to a media release issued by the Australian Embassy, this vaccine donation to Cambodia is part of Australia's commitment to share up to 60 million Covid-19 vaccine doses with the Indo-Pacific region by the end of 2022, with more than 10 million shared to date. The Australian government is partnering with UNICEF and the World Health Organization to support the national roll-out in Cambodia.