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

PHNOM PENH -- A plane carrying a new batch of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, on Saturday, giving another boost to the kingdom's inoculation drive.

Cambodian health ministry's secretary of state Yok Sambath, who received the vaccine at the Phnom Penh International Airport, said the jab was purchased from Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech.

"With the subsequent arrivals of the vaccines, we're confident that our vaccination plan will be achieved on schedule," she said.

The Southeast Asian nation has planned to inoculate at least 10 million out of its 16 million population by the end of this year or early next year at the latest, she said.

The kingdom launched an anti-COVID-19 inoculation drive on Feb 10. To date, some 5.92 million vaccine doses have been administered, with 2.66 million people having been fully vaccinated with two doses, the health ministry said.

Cambodia logged 471 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, pushing the national caseload to 42,052, the ministry said.

The kingdom also recorded 20 new fatalities, taking the overall death toll to 414 so far, the ministry said, adding that 928 patients had recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 36,868.