PHNOM PENH: Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Chairperson of the Covid-19 Vaccination Committee, Or Vandine, calls on people to not discriminate against the Covid-19 vaccine, as the vaccines given to the people are on the list of authorized vaccines for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO).

She expressed this point during an interview with reporters during the inspection of the Covid-19 vaccination process of the third booster dose in Battambang province. Spokesperson Or Vandine said that there are currently more than 100 cases of Omicron in Cambodia, most of which are imported, but some also transmitted within the community.

She stated that all Covid-19 patients being hospitalized are not in critical condition because they had been vaccinated against the virus, and added that in the past some people had discriminated against the vaccine because they thought it was not good. She reiterated that any vaccine that is on the WHO’s approved list of quality and effective emergency use vaccines is good, and then added that the WHO has recently released a report on the rapid use of the fourth dose of the vaccine to prevent the severity of the Omicron virus outbreak in a timely manner.

She said, "We have also seen a lot of information, with some reports on the effectiveness of vaccines to prevent Omicron, but all vaccines are effective to prevent Omicron. Therefore, I ask all of you not to discriminate against vaccination and also to clearly understand the message of the benefits of using the vaccine, which is on the list of authorized vaccines for emergency use by the World Health Organization. And now we do whatever it takes to have enough vaccines, to get a vaccine into our bodies, because the third dose is even more effective, and the fourth dose has already been arranged by the Covid-19 Vaccination Committee. And we will start the vaccination campaign for the fourth dose on Friday, 14 January 2022."

The Ministry of Health Spokesperson continued to remind all people who have not been vaccinated to please hurry to get the vaccine to prevent the spread of Covid-19, especially the new Omicron variant.

She also called on all citizens, even after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine, to continue practicing ‘The 3 Do’s and 3 Don’ts’ in accordance with the high instructions of Prime Minister Hun Sen, as well as continuing to implement the National Education Campaign under the theme "Jointly Responsible for Preventing the Transmission of Covid-19 to Ensure the Sustainability of New Normalization in the Context of Fighting Covid-19 disease.”