Health workers administer Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines to people at an inoculation site in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on July 8, 2021. (Photo by Sovannara/Xinhua)
Cambodia wrapped up its COVID-19 vaccination drive in Phnom Penh after 99 percent of the capital's adult population have completed the two-dose inoculation. Besides Phnom Penh, vaccinations have been rolled out in 14 provinces and will be expanded to the rest of the kingdom soon.
PHNOM PENH, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Thursday wrapped up its COVID-19 vaccination drive in Phnom Penh after 2.12 million people, or 99 percent of the capital's adult population, have completed the two-dose inoculation, officials said.
Health ministry's secretary of state and spokeswoman Or Vandine announced the completion during a visit to an inoculation site in the capital's Chroy Changvar district.
"A total of 2,128,791 people have been inoculated, or 99.22 percent of the adult population (in Phnom Penh). This is a great achievement," she said. "This clearly shows that our citizens are really eager to get vaccinated."
Vandine said besides Phnom Penh, vaccinations have been rolled out in 14 provinces and will be expanded to the rest of the kingdom soon.
Phnom Penh Municipal Governor Khuong Sreng said infection rates in the capital are on the decline as around 300 new cases are detected daily, which is lower than over 500 cases a day in early May.
"We can say that we've gotten successful in providing vaccines to the people in Phnom Penh because none of the vaccine recipients have suffered serious side effects. It's a great success," he told reporters.
A health worker prepares a dose of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine at an inoculation site in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on July 8, 2021. (Photo by Sovannara/Xinhua)
Meach Chumno, a doctor in charge of a vaccination site in Chroy Changvar district, said he was confident that infection rates in the capital city will go down soon after most of the people have been inoculated.
"Today is the last day of our COVID-19 vaccination drive in Phnom Penh after we have launched it for nearly five months," he told Xinhua. "As almost all of the adult population in Phnom Penh have been fully vaccinated, we hope that the number of infections will decline in the near future."
Nurse Chhay Kimlang expressed her thanks to the Cambodian government for providing free COVID-19 vaccines to the people and to China for donating and selling the vaccines to Cambodia timely.
"China, if there were no your vaccine supplies, we would not have enough vaccines to inoculate our people," she said.
Vaccine recipients said Thursday that they felt quite safe after getting their second dose with China's Sinovac vaccine.
"I just received my second dose of the Sinovac vaccine. The injection was painless, and I feel pretty safe now," Phea Sokheng, a 20-year-old student at the Phnom Penh International University, told Xinhua.
"A friend in need is a friend indeed. China, your kind support will be engraved in our hearts forever," she said.
Photo taken on July 8, 2021 shows a COVID-19 inoculation site in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Photo by Sovannara/Xinhua)
Chok Chivoan, a 23-year-old deliveryman, said he has not seen any side effects after completing his two-dose injection.
"I'm quite confident in the quality and efficacy of China's Sinovac vaccine. I believe that it will be able to protect my life from COVID-19," he said.
"Our joint fight against COVID-19 between Cambodia and China should be a role model for international cooperation and I believe that it will contribute to building a community of shared future between our two countries," he added.
Cambodia confirmed 954 new cases on Thursday, pushing the national caseload to 58,057, the health ministry said, adding that 27 new fatalities were reported, bringing the overall death toll to 825.
The Southeast Asian nation began a vaccination drive on Feb. 10, with China being the key vaccine supplier.
As of July 7, some 8.14 million vaccines had been administered in the country, with 4.7 million people receiving their first dose and 3.44 million having completed the two-dose inoculation, the health ministry said.
Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said last week that the country was accelerating its immunization drive, aiming at inoculating at least 10 million out of its 16 million population by November.■
