AKP Phnom Penh, February 28, 2021 --

Some 324,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine licensed to the Serum Institute of India (SII) known as COVISHIELD, will arrive at the Phnom Penh International Airport on Mar. 2 evening, announced the Ministry of Health this afternoon.

H.E. Professor Mam Bunheng, Minister of Health, will represent the Royal Government of Cambodia to attend the hand-over ceremony taking place at the airport at the time of vaccines' arrival, joined by Dr. Li Ailan, representative of World Health Organisation (WHO) and Ms. Foroogh Foyouzat, representative of United Nation Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Cambodia, it pointed out.

Other senior officials from the Ministry of Health, WHO and UNICEF will also attend the ceremony, the same source added.

According to the announcement, the arriving doses above are the first consignment provided to Cambodia by the COVAX Facility. Further batches will arrive throughout the year 2021.

The COVAX Facility is an unprecedented global effort to provide every country in the world with equitable access to safe COVID-19 vaccines as rapidly as possible. COVAX Facility is led by GAVI, CEPI and the WHO in partnership with UNICEF. Cambodia is among the first countries in the Western Pacific Region to receive vaccines from COVAX Facility.

By C. Nika