Cambodia jab plan picks up pace with Chinese donations

PHNOM PENH－A plane delivering another batch of China-donated Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine doses arrived in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh on Tuesday amid the country's booster vaccination drive.

The arrival of the vaccine doses was livestreamed on the official Facebook page of Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, local media reported.

Health Ministry Secretary of State Yok Sambath and Wu Guoquan, economic and commercial counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Cambodia, welcomed the arrival of the vaccine doses at Phnom Penh International Airport.

"Today, we received more than 1.5 million Sinovac vaccine doses, and tomorrow (Wednesday), another batch of nearly 3.5 million doses will arrive in Cambodia through two planes," Sambath told reporters.

Sambath expressed her profound gratitude to China, saying that the new donation was a testament to the ironclad friendship between Cambodia and China.

"China is our major vaccine supplier," she said. "This new vaccine will be used to support our booster shot campaign and to vaccinate our children aged 3 to 5 years old."

She said vaccines are highly effective against both infection and serious illness, as well as death.

Wu said the donation highlights the ironclad friendship between China and Cambodia.

"As long as COVID-19 is not over, China's support for Cambodia's fight against the pandemic will not end," he said.

The Southeast Asian nation has so far received a total of almost 50 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from three sources through bilateral procurement, the World Health Organization's COVAX facility and donations. About 84 percent of the total were bought or donated by China.

To date, 14.8 million people, or 92.5 percent of Cambodia's population of 16 million, have received their first vaccine doses, the Ministry of Health said.

About 13.99 million, or 87.4 percent, have taken the two required shots. And 7.91 million, or 49 percent, have taken a booster shot. About 1.15 million Cambodians, or 7.2 percent, have gotten a fourth dose.

Health Ministry Director-General and spokesman Hok Kim Cheng said Chinese vaccines have helped Cambodia achieve strong herd immunity and revive its economy.

"Chinese vaccines are essential for Cambodia to save people's lives and to stabilize our health system," he told Xinhua.

Xinhua