Cambodia receives 3rd batch of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine

A staff member transfers a batch of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines at the Phnom Penh International Airport in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, May 11, 2021. A plane carrying a third batch of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine that Cambodia acquired from Chinese biopharmaceutical company arrived in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, on Tuesday. (Photo by Phearum/Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, May 11 (Xinhua) -- A plane carrying a third batch of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine that Cambodia acquired from Chinese biopharmaceutical company arrived in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, on Tuesday.

"The vaccine's arrival today is another testament to the unbreakable iron-clad friendship between our two countries," Cambodia's Health Ministry secretary of state Yok Sambath told reporters while receiving the vaccine at the Phnom Penh International Airport.

Sambath expressed her profound thanks to China for providing the vaccine to Cambodia timely, saying that both China's Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines are very safe and effective.

The Southeast Asian nation has received COVID-19 vaccines from China and the WHO's COVAX Facility.

The country launched an anti-COVID-19 inoculation drive on Feb. 10. To date, more than 1.82 million out of the country's 16 million population had been vaccinated against the virus, a government report said.

The kingdom logged 480 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, pushing the national case total to 20,223, with 131 deaths and 8,170 recoveries, the Ministry of Health said.