Cambodia, Bangladesh receive new batches of vaccines from China

Cambodia and Bangladesh both received more COVID-19 vaccines from China on Friday.

PHNOM PENH, DHAKA, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Friday received a new batch of 3 million doses of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines, as Bangladesh received a new batch of Sinopharm vaccines.

A flight carrying the vaccine, purchased from Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech, landed at the Phnom Penh International Airport shortly before 10 a.m. local time, said Ministry of Health (MoH) Secretary of State Yok Sambath.

"This new batch will be used to inoculate our young children aged from six to under 12 years," she told reporters.

A plane of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying 5 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Thursday, Health Ministry spokesperson Maidul Islam Prodhan told Xinhua Friday.

"We've received 5 million Sinopharm vaccine doses from China Thursday," he said.

On Sept. 18 and 11, Bangladesh respectively received 5 million and 5.4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's pharmaceutical Sinopharm Group.

To date, Cambodia has received a total of 32.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from friendly countries and the World Health Organization (WHO)'s COVAX Facility, of which 29.8 million doses, or 91.4 percent, are from China, she said.

The Southeast Asian nation launched a COVID-19 vaccination drive in February. As of Sept. 23, the kingdom has administered at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines to 12.8 million people, or 80 percent of its 16-million population, the MoH said.

Of them, 10.7 million, or 67 percent, have been fully vaccinated with both required shots, and 855,045 people, or 5.34 percent, have received a booster dose, it added.

WHO representative to Cambodia Li Ailan told Xinhua earlier this week that Cambodia is one of the most successful countries in the WHO Western Pacific Region in securing adequate vaccines and vaccinating its targeted population.

"WHO is very pleased that a combination of the Cambodian government's strong leadership, active public participation, and effective partnerships makes Cambodia's vaccine rollout a great success," she said.

Cambodia on Friday reported a daily record of 822 new COVID-19 cases, lifting the national total caseload to 107,441, the MoH said, adding that 21 more fatalities have been registered, taking the overall death toll to 2,197.

An additional 494 patients have recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 99,628, the MoH said.

Bangladesh's vaccination drive is currently running smoothly in the capital Dhaka and elsewhere largely thanks to China's continued vaccine support.

To fight the alarming spike in COVID-19 cases, Bangladesh has reached an agreement with the Chinese side on co-production of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine locally.

Bangladesh launched its COVID-19 vaccination drive in January to contain the pandemic that has spread across the South Asian country.

The Bangladeshi government halted administering the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine after India banned vaccine exports.

In June, the vaccination drive resumed in parts of the country with the China-donated Sinopharm vaccines.