PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Sen has stated that China will provide an additional 5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines after a meeting between the Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia and Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong. He made this statement while speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new flyover in Russey Keo district on Monday morning.

Prime Minister Hun Sen stated that he had previously ordered the Ministry of Health to contact China to purchase 8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines. However, following a recent meeting between the former Foreign Minister, Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong, and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia, Wang Wentian, the Chinese side confirmed that they would provide an additional 5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Cambodia.

"We have more than 9 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines in our warehouse, but I ordered the purchase of 5 million doses when I met the Chinese Ambassador. He said there was no need to buy the vaccines, as China would donate 5 million doses, so I only ordered the purchase of 3 million doses. I wanted to buy another 8 million doses to keep in storage, but the day before, when the Chinese Ambassador met with HE Hor Namhong, he said that he would provide assistance to Cambodia as needed, so now he will give us another 5 million doses, plus I bought another 3 million doses, so a total of 8 million doses will arrive in the first half of 2022," he said.

He further confirmed that Cambodia does not have a problem with lacking vaccines, but the problem lies in the number of people coming to get vaccinated, particularly for the booster dose. He urged the people to continue getting vaccinated against Covid-19, both the basic and booster doses. He stressed that everyone must particularly continue implementing three health protection rules and measures.

As of 30 January 2022, nearly 14 million people in Cambodia have been fully vaccinated, nearly 6 million people have received a third dose, and more than 450,000 people have received a fourth dose booster shot.