Cambodian PM vows to vaccinate 10 million targeted population against Covid-19 by early 2022

A woman checks her temperature at a screening point before entering at the Central Market in Phnom Penh on May 24, 2021, as Cambodia's government reopened markets that were closed due to lockdown restrictions introduced to try to halt a surge in cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus. - AFP

PHNOM PENH, May 29 (Xinhua): Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen vowed on Saturday to provide COVID-19 vaccines to 10 million out of the country's 16 million population by early next year.

The South-East Asian nation launched a Covid-19 vaccination drive on Feb. 10, with China being the main vaccine supplier.

To date, more than 2.46 million people have already been vaccinated, Hun Sen said, adding that for the Phnom Penh municipal dwellers, some 60 percent of them have already been inoculated.

"We will do our best to achieve the goal of vaccinating our 10 million targeted population by the end of this year or the latest in early next year," he said in an audio message released publicly.

The prime minister said some 4.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be arriving in Cambodia in June.

The country on Saturday registered 588 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the national case tally to 28,825, the health ministry said in a statement.

Another seven new fatalities were confirmed, taking the overall death toll to 203, the ministry said, adding that another 415 patients recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 21,315. - Xinhua