AKP Phnom Penh, Cambodia this evening received 783,000 of the over 2.35 million doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine committed by the Government and people of Australia to the Government and people of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

The handover-receiving ceremony took place at Phnom Penh International Airport this evening under the presidency of Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen and Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Australian Embassy in Cambodia Mr. Andreas Zurbrugg.

Speaking on the occasion, Samdech Techo Hun Sen thanked Australia for the precious donation, stressing that it is a good act of Australia to Cambodia as well as to the humanity as a whole in the fight against COVID-19.

The Premier asked Australia to continue supporting the fight, build Cambodia’s capacity in health security, and strengthen public health as well as promote Cambodian economic growth with sustainability and inclusiveness.

For his part, Mr. Andreas Zurbrugg congratulated Cambodia on the outstanding job in vaccinating against the pandemic and underlined that the donated vaccines, a bilateral and grant aid, are additional to Australia’s assistance of some 135 million AUD to COVAX Advance Market Commitment.

With the newly arrived vaccines, Cambodia has now nearly 42 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from purchases and donations: 7,800,000 doses of Sinopharm, 29,424,800 doses of Sinovac, 2,661,400 doses of AstraZeneca, 1,064,600 doses of Johnson & Johnson, 783,000 doses of Pfizer, and 188,160 doses of Moderna. Of the vaccines, more than 3 million were from COVAX Facility.

More than 1.56 million more doses of Australia-donated Pfizer vaccine will arrive in Cambodia on Dec. 28.

As of today, more than 89 percent of the total Cambodian population of 16 million have been inoculated against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Besides domestic vaccination, Cambodia has donated COVID-19 vaccines to some countries in the region, including Lao PDR and Vietnam.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press