Cambodia receives new batch of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines

A worker transports a package of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines at the Phnom Penh International Airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, June 8, 2021. (Photo by Phearum/Xinhua)

The new arrival included Sinopharm vaccine donated by the Chinese government and those purchased from Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech.

PHNOM PENH, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's COVID-19 vaccination drive has received another boost after the country got a new batch of Chinese vaccines on Tuesday.

Cambodian health ministry's secretary of state Yok Sambath said the new arrival included Sinopharm vaccine donated by the Chinese government and those purchased from Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech.

Sambath said both Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines are very safe and effective, expressing her profound gratitude to China for subsequently providing vaccines to Cambodia.

The Southeast Asian nation has so far acquired more than 7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from China and the World Health Organization's COVAX Facility, she said.

Photo taken on June 8, 2021 shows packages of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines arriving at the Phnom Penh International Airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Photo by Phearum/Xinhua)

Cambodia launched an anti-COVID-19 inoculation drive on Feb. 10.

So far, nearly 4.97 million COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country, with 2.2 million people fully vaccinated, the health ministry said in a statement.

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen has said that the country is targeting to inoculate at least 10 million out of its 16 million population by the end of this year or by early next year at the latest.

The country logged 678 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, pushing the national case tally to 35,511 with 278 deaths and 28,649 recoveries, the health ministry said.