MANILA, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) - A batch of Sinovac vaccine CoronaVac donated by China arrived in the Philippines on Sunday, the first COVID-19 vaccine to reach the Southeast Asian country.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte attended the handover ceremony of the vaccines at a Philippine Air Force base in the capital city of Manila.

The delivery of the vaccines allows the Philippines to start mass vaccinations soon, marking a new phase in the country's fight against the COVID-19 that infected 576,352 and killed 12,318.