AKP Phnom Penh, March 16, 2021 --

Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen has announced to form an ad-hoc commission for COVID-19 vaccination.

In his voice message shared this evening, the Premier said the ad-hoc commission will be headed by H.E. Dr. Or Vandine, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Health.

Samdech Techo Hun Sen advised H.E. Dr. Or Vandine to discuss with H.E. Prof. Mam Bunheng, Minister of Health to nominate officials of the Ministry of Health and other relevant ministries to be members of the commission.

The ad-hoc commission will be in charge of managing and leading the vaccination process, both for civilians and militaries, across the country, he pointed out.

"More vaccines will arrive subsequently; therefore, we need to have a precise master plan on vaccination," he underlined.

If necessary, he added, ad-hoc sub-commissions can be created at the provinces and capital as well as national institutions to prepare the lists of people for vaccination as the Royal Government is planning to vaccinate up to at least 10 million of the total population.

Samdech Techo Hun Sen said two bodies need to be formed - one for procurement of vaccines and the other is the ad-hoc commission for COVID-19 vaccination.

According to the Prime Minister, some 1.5 million or more doses of China-made Sinovac will be arriving in Cambodia in the near future, in addition to Sinopharm and AstraZeneca. Moreover, Cambodia is also seeking to buy U.S.' Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

Cambodia’s tally of COVID-19 increased to 1,430 as of this morning, of which 915 are connected to the Feb. 20 Community Event, the current cluster infections in the country. A total of 818 patients have so far recovered successfully, with a death case recorded.

By C. Nika