Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen has said 300,000 doses of Chinese vaccine will arrive in Cambodia in February and that he expects around 500,000 people to be inoculated before Khmer New Year, which will be held in April.

"China is pushing to send 600,000 doses of the vaccine to Cambodia, and I want to see 500,000 Cambodians vaccinated before Khmer New Year," he said.

Meanwhile, he has asked the Ministry of Health to start a survey to determine how many people are willing to take the vaccine.

"Many countries are already using vaccines, including those of the People's Republic of China, Sinopharm and Sinovac, which are our necessities and we cannot wait any longer," Hun Sen said in a voice message on Facebook.

Hun Sen said he sent a letter to China last week about the donation of one million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to Cambodia and had a discussion with the Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian to find a way to bring more vaccines to Cambodia.

"The move may involve ordering more vaccines from China with the fund donated to us by China or from our reserve," the premier said, adding that Cambodia will vaccinate its people with both Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines, both of which have been produced by Chinese companies.