Excellency Professor Mam Bunheng, Minister of Health
Excellency Uch Borith, Minister attached to the Prime Minister and Permanent Secretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
Excellency Hem Vanny, Secretary of State, Ministry of Economy and Finance
Excellencies Secretaries of State from the Ministry of Health
Excellency Ms Carmen Moreno, EU Ambassador to Cambodia
Ms Foroogh Foyouzat, UNICEF Representative
Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen
We are here together at a historic event. The development of effective and safe vaccines a year after the emergence of COVID-19 is one of modern medicine’s greatest success stories. When used together with other public health measures, the vaccines are a critical new tool in the fight against COVID-19.
It is an honour to celebrate with you all tonight. I am so pleased that Cambodia is one of the first countries in the Western Pacific Region to receive COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX Facility.
I congratulate the Royal Government of Cambodia – especially the Ministry of Health – for its extraordinary efforts to protect Cambodians, and contribute to a safer and heathier world.
WHO is very proud to be a co-lead of the COVAX Facility. I would like to express our sincere appreciation to our COVAX partners, including Gavi, CEPI (the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations), UNICEF, all the countries who contributed financially, and our many other partners.
The arrival of this vaccine, which has been listed for emergency use by WHO and authorized for emergency use in Cambodia by the Ministry of Health, takes us one step closer to ending this pandemic.
WHO is pleased that Cambodia is contributing to a shared goal to vaccinate priority groups such as health care workers, older and vulnerable people as quickly as possible. This is “vaccine equity” in action in Cambodia.
WHO is proud to support the Royal Government of Cambodia in preparing for and rolling out COVID-19 vaccines. We are committed to continuing to support the vaccines rollout, in close cooperation with all partners, especially UNICEF.
As you all know, we are currently responding to the COVID-19 clusters in Cambodia. Our goal is to contain the clusters as quickly as possible, and to prevent the “20 February event” from becoming largescale community transmission. Together, we must act quickly and with solidarity to prevent this worst-case scenario. Our collective actions will determine our success or failure in fighting against COVID-19.
For COVID-19 vaccination, if it is your turn, get vaccinated as soon as possible; if it is not your turn, please wait, as those most vulnerable must be prioritized.
Vaccines are vital, but they are not enough. We must continue to take steps to protect yourself and others. We must follow the public health measures as guided by the Ministry of Health.
The pandemic is far from over. Together, we hope to contain the current outbreaks in Cambodia as quickly as possible. We must use all the tools at our disposal to return to a new normal. Our actions today will be written in the history books of tomorrow.
We will not end the pandemic anywhere unless we end it everywhere.
Thank you.