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

Photo taken on Sept. 28, 2021 shows a batch of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine that has just arrived at the Phnom Penh International Airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A new batch of 3 million doses of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, on Tuesday, a senior health official said. (Photo by Phearum/Xinhua)

A new batch of 3 million doses of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, on Sept. 28, a senior health official said.

A plane carrying the vaccine, purchased from Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech, landed at the capital's airport shortly before 11:00 a.m. local time Tuesday, said Ministry of Health (MoH) Secretary of State Yok Sambath.

"This new batch of Sinovac vaccine will be used to support our booster dose campaign," she told reporters.

To date, Cambodia has received a total of 35.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from friendly countries and the World Health Organization (WHO)'s COVAX Facility, of which 32.8 million doses, or 92.1 percent, are from China, she said.

The Southeast Asian nation launched a COVID-19 vaccination drive in February. As of Sept. 27, the country had administered at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines to 13.2 million people, or 82.5 percent of its 16-million population, the MoH said.

Of them, 10.9 million people, or 68.3 percent, had been fully vaccinated with both required shots, and 875,238 people, or 5.47 percent, had received a booster dose, it added.

Cambodia confirmed 866 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, pushing the national total caseload to 110,792 so far, the MoH said, adding that 26 more fatalities had been recorded, taking the overall death toll to 2,287.

Additional 505 patients have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 101,690, the MoH said.