Cambodia to start COVID-19 vaccine rollout for children aged from 6 to 12

Source: Xinhua| 2021-09-15 22:31:32|Editor: huaxia
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PHNOM PENH, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said Wednesday the Southeast Asian nation will begin a COVID-19 vaccination drive for children from 6 to 12 years old on Friday.

The prime minister said in an audio message released publicly that the country has almost achieved its vaccination goal for adolescents aged from 12 to 18.

Hun Sen, who will attend the launching event at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, said the kingdom has more than 1.8 million children aged from 6 to 12.

"If we do not provide them vaccines, we cannot reopen the primary schools," Hun Sen said.

With its total population of 16 million, Cambodia launched a COVID-19 vaccination drive for 10 million adults in February and for nearly 2 million adolescents aged from 12 to 18 in August.

To date, 9.77 million adults and 1.71 million adolescents had received their first vaccine dose, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Most of the COVID-19 vaccines used in the country's immunization campaigns are from China's Sinovac and Sinopharm.

Cambodia confirmed 653 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, pushing the national total caseload to 101,443, the MoH said, adding that nine new fatalities were recorded, bringing the overall death toll to 2,067.

Additional 463 patients recovered, taking the total number of recoveries to 95,367, the MoH said. Enditem

KEY WORDS: Cambodia,COVID,19,Vaccine,Children
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