PHNOM PENH, 23 APR : Ninety-three percent of the people in Cambodia, aged 3 years old and over, have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines, Health Ministry’s secretary of state and spokeswoman Or Vandine said on Saturday.
The southeast Asian nation launched a national vaccination campaign against COVID-19 in February 2021, with China being the key vaccine supplier.
“Some 93.01 percent, or 14.88 million of the country’s total population of 16 million, have taken at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccines,” Vandine said in a report, adding that 88.3 percent of them, or 14.14 million, have been fully inoculated with two required doses.
Also, some 8.2 million, or 51 percent, have got a third dose, and 1.3 million, or 8 percent, have had a fourth dose, she said. Kin Phea, director-general of the International Relations Institute at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said vaccines have protected people’s lives, stabilized the health system and helped restore the kingdom’s economy.
“The royal government of Cambodia has made the correct decision to choose China as a strategic supplier of COVID-19 vaccines and that’s why Cambodia has enough vaccines for its people,” he told Xinhua.
Phea said Chinese vaccines have enabled Cambodia to fully resume socio-economic activities and to reopen its borders to vaccinated travelers without quarantine since last November. Cambodia reported 28 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday with new zero fatalities, bringing the kingdom’s total caseload to 136,200, including 3,056 deaths.
