PHNOM PENH, Nov 18 (NNN-AKP) – An aircraft carrying two million more doses of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine, donated by China, arrived in the Cambodian capital yesterday.
The vaccines’ arrival was greeted by Cambodian Prime Minister, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, at the Phnom Penh International Airport.
The event was livestreamed on the prime minister’s official Facebook page, the state-run National Television of Cambodia (TVK), Fresh News, the kingdom’s largest online news provider, and several other TV channels.
Speaking at the ceremony at the airport, Hun Sen said, with China’s timely and regular vaccine supply, Cambodia has achieved herd immunity earlier than originally planned, and recently reopened all sectors in the country.
From Monday, the country allowed quarantine-free travel for fully vaccinated international travellers. Under the new scheme, travellers will be free to visit anywhere in the country, if they test negative for COVID-19, 72 hours prior to departure and have a negative result of a rapid test, upon arrival.
“Cambodia has become one of the most fully COVID-19 vaccinated countries in the region and around the world, that has achieved a solid herd immunity,” Hun Sen said. “Cambodia’s success in its COVID-19 vaccination campaign is inseparable from China’s vaccine supply.”
The country has, so far, got a total of 40 million doses of vaccines from three sources, through bilateral procurement, the World Health Organisation (WHO)-led COVAX Facility, and donations. Of the total, over 90 percent were bought from or donated by China.
The prime minister added that, to date, Cambodia has administered at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to 14.08 million people, or 88 percent of its 16-million population. Of them, 13.2 million, or 82.6 percent of the total population, are fully vaccinated with two required shots, and 2.07 million, or 13 percent, have got a third or booster shot.– NNN-AKP
