SAN SALVADOR — China will supply El Salvador with the fifth batch of vaccines developed by Chinese laboratory Sinovac against COVID-19, the Chinese embassy in San Salvador has said.

On its official Twitter account, the embassy confirmed the batch will arrive shortly.

"In the coming days, 1.5 million Sinovac vaccines will arrive in El Salvador, the 5th and largest batch of Chinese vaccines the friendly country will receive, thanks to the excellent existing bilateral relations and the will to overcome the pandemic together and safeguard the health of the people," said the embassy.

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele greeted the announcement by retweeting it and placing the Chinese and Salvadoran flags side by side.

The Salvadoran government seeks to immunize 4.5 million adults, with the exception of pregnant women, in a bid to achieve herd immunity.

El Salvador began its vaccination process on Feb 17.

As of July 6, El Salvador reported 80,235 confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to official figures.