PHNOM PENH: The Australian Embassy in Cambodia has announced that the Australian Government is committed to continue working with the Royal Government of Cambodia to respond to the national Covid-19 outbreak.

This announcement was made in an official media release for the delivery of the first batch of 2.35 million doses of Pfizer BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines from the Government of Australia to Cambodia on Sunday evening.

783,000 doses of the donated Pfizer vaccines were delivered to Cambodia on Sunday, and the remaining 1,567,530 doses are set to arrive on Tuesday.

The Australian Embassy has stated that this vaccine donation “...is part of Australia's commitment to share 60 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine with the Indo-Pacific region by the end of 2022, with more than 10 millions shared to date.”

The Chargé d'Affaires of the Australian Embassy, Andreas Zurbrugg, stated that “Australia is proud to support Cambodia by delivering 2.35 million doses of the Pfizer BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. This vaccine donation is the first time Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines will be used at this scale in the Kingdom.”

He added that Australia has also provided US $28 million in grant funding for a comprehensive package of support for Covid-19 vaccines, which includes helping train healthcare workers and providing logistics support and equipment.

In addition, Australia is working in partnership with UNICEF and the World Health Organization to support the nationwide vaccination campaign, particularly for the procurement and delivery of vaccines to hard-to-reach locations and vulnerable populations in Cambodia.

This latest Australian assistance is in addition to decades of support for Cambodia's health sector, including through the Quality Improvement and Health Equity (H-EQIP) project, which is working to improve the quality of services provided by more than 1,200 health centers across the country.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Australia worked with various partners to support the Cambodian Ministry of Health in purchasing diagnostics, treatment and transport equipment for Covid-19 patients, including 110 ventilators, 370 patient monitors and 80 ambulances.

^{PHOTO: EAC NEWS}