ASIA / PACIFIC
October 4, 2021
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 5
Cambodia vaccinating its 6- to 11-year-old age group
SCHOOL SAFETY. A young girl shows a thumbs
up while receiving the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine at a
health center outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Cam-
bodia began vaccinating 6- to 11-year-olds in mid-
September so students could safely return to schools
that have been closed for months due to the corona-
virus. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
By Sopheng Cheang
The Associated Press
P
HNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cam-
bodia began vaccinating 6- to
11-year-olds in mid-September so
students could safely return to schools that
have been closed for months due to the
coronavirus.
Prime Minister Hun Sen inaugurated
the campaign to vaccinate the children,
speaking live on state television and his
Facebook page as his grandchildren and
young family members of other senior
officials were shown being given their
jabs.
“To protect children’s health and their
lives is our duty because we want to make
sure that once they go back to their
schools, these children and their teachers
are safe from COVID-19,” Hun Sen
declared.
Cambodia already has been vaccinating
older children, and Hun Sen said he
ordered health officials to study if children
ages 3 to 5 can also be vaccinated. No date
had been announced for schools to reopen.
More than 72% of Cambodia’s almost 17
million people have received at least one
COVID-19 shot since vaccinations began
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in February. China’s Sinovac and
Sinopharm vaccines account for most
inoculations.
Hun Sen, 69, who has been fully
vaccinated and received a booster shot last
month, said Cambodia’s priority in
recovering from the pandemic is reopening
the education sector, followed by allowing
service industries, including domestic
tourism, to resume activities.
He said Cambodia is considering
reopening to fully vaccinated foreign
tourists in the near future. The tourism
sector is vitally important for the country’s
economy, he said, and Chinese visitors are
expected to be the biggest group of arrivals
once Cambodia reopens.
Hun Sen said while Cambodia’s rate of
coronavirus infections continues to be
high, it appears to be slowing due to
vaccination levels, which are higher than
most other countries in Southeast Asia.