Phnom Penh: Cambodia’s latest batch of vaccines arrived in the country on Thursday morning. The one million doses of Sinopharm take to 16-million the number of doses that have been delivered to the kingdom since the first batch was delivered in the first week of February. They were also made by Sinopharm.

The special China Southern Airlines flight landed at Phnom Penh International Airport just before 9.45 on Thursday morning. The one million doses of Sinopharm it was carrying have been bought from China and there’s plenty more on the way this month. Secretary of State in the Ministry of Health, Ms. Youk Sambath, told reporters: “Cambodia will get all the planned 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for 10 million people, or 62 percent of the total population, by the end of this month. In August, 3 million doses of Sinovac will arrive in Cambodia and 2 million more in September for the vaccination of children between 12 and 17 years old.”

The Sinopharm shots, quickly loaded into the back of trucks, will be going into arms shortly – although now at 21 day intervals, not 14. The Ministry of Health made that change earlier this month to increase their efficacy. Studies have shown that the extra seven days increase protection levels by over 25%.

More vaccine doses will be arriving on Friday. 332-thousand doses of AstraZeneca, donated by Japan, will arrive on Friday evening. Prime Minister Hun Sen will be there to receive them. Cambodia is also expecting its next shipment of Covax doses in the coming weeks which will be approximately a million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

As of Thursday, 6.3-million people in Cambodia have received at last one shot. 4.25-million adults are fully vaccinated. The Royal Government is aiming to fully vaccinate 10-million adults before November, with the vaccination of children aged between 12 and 17 also being planned.