PHNOM PENH– Cambodia received new batches of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines, namely Sinovac and Sinopharm, yesterday, as the COVID-19 case total in the country neared the 60,000 mark.
Health ministry’s secretary of state, Yok Sambath, said, the new arrivals included Sinovac vaccines, purchased from biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech, and Sinopharm jabs ordered from pharmaceutical company, Sinopharm.
“Today is a special day, as we received a large number of COVID-19 vaccines,” she told reporters, while receiving the vaccines at the Phnom Penh International Airport.
She said, the kingdom has so far acquired more than 16 million doses of vaccines from China and the World Health Organisation’s COVAX Facility.
Cambodia launched a COVID-19 inoculation drive on Feb 10. To date 4.79 million people, or 47.9 percent of the 10 million targeted adult population, have been vaccinated.
COVID-19 infection rates continue to rise in Cambodia. The kingdom logged 933 new cases yesterday, pushing the national caseload to 59,978, with 881 deaths and 51,660 recoveries, the health ministry said.
World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative to Cambodia, Li Ailan, expressed concerns over a spike in new cases and deaths, urging greater community participation to suppress transmission.
“The COVID-19 situation in Cambodia is not getting better. I am very worried about the increasing infections and deaths,” she said on social media. “I know ‘worry’ itself is not a solution. Without more effective non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), it is unlikely to get better.”
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK