Cambodia receives new batch of 3 mln doses of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Friday received a new batch of 3 million doses of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine.

A flight carrying the vaccine, purchased from Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech, landed at the Phnom Penh International Airport shortly before 10 a.m. local time, said Ministry of Health (MoH) Secretary of State Yok Sambath.

"This new batch will be used to inoculate our young children aged from six to under 12 years," she told reporters.

To date, Cambodia has received a total of 32.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from friendly countries and the World Health Organization (WHO)'s COVAX Facility, of which 29.8 million doses, or 91.4 percent, are from China, she said.

The Southeast Asian nation launched a COVID-19 vaccination drive in February. As of Sept. 23, the kingdom has administered at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines to 12.8 million people, or 80 percent of its 16-million population, the MoH said.

Of them, 10.7 million, or 67 percent, have been fully vaccinated with both required shots, and 855,045 people, or 5.34 percent, have received a booster dose, it added.

WHO representative to Cambodia Li Ailan told Xinhua earlier this week that Cambodia is one of the most successful countries in the WHO Western Pacific Region in securing adequate vaccines and vaccinating its targeted population.

"WHO is very pleased that a combination of the Cambodian government's strong leadership, active public participation, and effective partnerships makes Cambodia's vaccine rollout a great success," she said.

Cambodia on Friday reported a daily record of 822 new COVID-19 cases, lifting the national total caseload to 107,441, the MoH said, adding that 21 more fatalities have been registered, taking the overall death toll to 2,197.

An additional 494 patients have recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 99,628, the MoH said.