Cambodia began vaccinating children between the ages of 6 and 11 on Friday so that schools, which have been closed for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, can safely reopen.
Prime Minister Hun Sen inaugurated the new phase of the campaign with a speech live on television and on his Facebook page as he showed how his grandchildren and other young relatives in high positions in the country received the injections.
“Protecting the health of children and their lives is our obligation because we want to make sure that once they return to schools, these children and their teachers are safe from COVID-19,” said Hun Sen.
Cambodia has already vaccinated older children and the prime minister said he ordered health authorities to study whether the drug can be given to those between the ages of 3 and 5. At the moment there is no date for the reopening of the schools.
Almost 72% of the country’s nearly 17 million people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine since the start of the immunization campaign in February. Most of the doses administered are the Chinese laboratories Sinovac and Sinopharm.
According to Hun Sen, Cambodia is considering reactivating tourism in the near future for people who have completed the vaccination schedule. This sector is vital for the country’s economy, he added.
Although the rate of coronavirus infections in the country remains high, it appears to be decreasing due to the high percentage of the vaccinated population, one of the highest in Southeast Asia, Hun Sen pointed out.
The Cambodian Ministry of Health reported 698 new cases and 11 deaths on Friday, for a total of 102,834 infections and 2,089 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
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