3 mln more doses of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines arrive in Myanmar

YANGON, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Three million more doses of COVID-19 vaccines provided by China arrived in Myanmar's Yangon on Wednesday, according to a statement from the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar.

China has directly or indirectly supplied 64 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines and a large amount of anti-pandemic supplies to Myanmar since the start of the pandemic, the statement said.

It helped Myanmar reduce the rate of COVID-19 infection, severe disease and mortality, the embassy said, adding that it has also played an active role in building a China-Myanmar community with a shared future.

The new batch of COVID-19 vaccines was delivered after the Myanmar government recently requested China for additional assistance of COVID-19 vaccines, it said. The Chinese vaccines are likely to be used for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, it said.

China's vaccine assistance this time is a positive response to Myanmar's needs, the embassy said in the statement.

In Myanmar, over 38.5 million people across the Southeast Asian country have been fully vaccinated as of May 2 this year. Among them, over 31.65 million were adults aged 18 and above, while more than 6.84 million were under the age of 18, the health ministry's figures showed.

As of June 7, Myanmar has recorded a total of 639,379 COVID-19 infections with 19,494 deaths and 618,363 recoveries since the beginning of the pandemic in the country in March 2020, the ministry's figures showed. ■