PHNOM PENH, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia was speeding up its COVID-19 vaccination drive as new infection rates continued to soar, Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Thursday.
The Southeast Asian nation confirmed 999 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking the national caseload to 51,384, the health ministry said, adding that 26 more fatalities were reported, bringing the death toll to 628.
The kingdom launched a COVID-19 vaccination drive on Feb. 10, starting from capital Phnom Penh and Kandal province before expanding it to other provinces recently.
In a televised speech on the state-run National Television of Cambodia (TVK), Hun Sen said that 4.2 million people, or 42 percent of the 10-million targeted adult population, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine so far.
"We're rushing to inoculate all the 10-million targeted adult population by November ... and then, we will consider providing the vaccine to children aged under 18," he said.
The prime minister said that China is the major vaccine supplier to the kingdom.
Meanwhile, Hun Sen said that the country was using Chinese medicine to treat COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms and advised the health ministry to purchase more medicine from China. "I take the Chinese medicine too." Enditem