Another nine million doses of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine from China will arrive in Cambodia later this month, Prime Minister Hun Sen said as he kicked off the country's vaccination campaign for children aged 6 to 11 on the morning of September 17.

Speaking during the launch at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, he said three million doses will touch down on September 24, another three million on September 26 or 27, and the remaining three million at a later date.

“Six million doses were purchased by our government and another three million were pledged as donations by [Chinese foreign minister] Wang Yi,” Hun Sen said.

According to the prime minister, Cambodia currently has more than four million vaccine doses in store, of which 773,437 shots will be administered to 386,719 children in Phnom Penh and the provinces of Kandal, Preah Sihanouk and Koh Kong.

The remaining doses, he noted, will be used to inoculate children in other parts of the country in order of priority.

As of September 16, Cambodia had vaccinated over 98 per cent of the target adult population of 10 million and 87.54 per cent of the 12-17 age group of nearly two million – or over 72 per cent of the Kingdom's total population of 16 million.