PHNOM PENH: On Thursday morning, the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Health and Chairman of the National Committee for Covid-19 Vaccination, Or Vandine, presided over the handover ceremony of 20 vaccine trucks to 12 Capital-Provincial Health Departments in Cambodia, and one Ministry of Health Department.

The handover ceremony was held at the Central Medical Storage (CMS) facility at the invitation of the directors of the 12 Capital-Provincial health departments. The provinces that are to receive vaccine trucks include:

1. Department of Health of Phnom Penh

2. Banteay Meanchey Provincial Health Department

3. Department of Health of Battambang Province

4. Kampong Cham Provincial Health Department

5. Department of Health of Kampong Speu Province

6. Kampong Thom Provincial Health Department

7. Kampot Provincial Health Department

8. Kandal Provincial Health Department

9. Prey Veng Provincial Health Department

10. Siem Reap Provincial Health Department

11. Takeo Provincial Health Department

12. Tbong Khmum Provincial Health Department

13. Central Medical Storage of the Ministry of Health

The vaccine trucks were donated by Cambodian philanthropists to Prime Minister Hun Sen. The Prime Minister then handed over this donation to the Ministry of Health for distribution. The trucks are Ford models that were designed to meet the specific needs of vaccine storage and transport, with a freezer that can reach a temperature of -24 C, and many other features.

These vaccine trucks are necessary for medical teams across the 12 provinces to transport vaccines across the country, especially the Pfizer BioNTech vaccines donated by Australia which are required to be kept at particular freezing temperatures.

On Saturday, 12 March, Secretary of State Or Vandine will also preside over the handover ceremony of 10 vaccine trucks, donated through Prime Minister Hun Sen, to the Lao People's Democratic Republic.