Philippine soldiers among 1st to get inoculated with Chinese COVID-19 vaccines

A soldier receives a dose of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine at the Marikina Sports Center in Marikina City, the Philippines, March 2, 2021. The Philippines has begun their COVID-19 vaccination campaign after the country received the shipment of the Sinovac vaccine CoronaVac from China. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

MANILA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine military will be among the first groups in the country to get inoculated with the newly arrived Sinovac vaccines donated by China.

Lieutenant Gen. Jose Faustino, the commanding general of the Philippine Army (PA), received the first dose of the Sinovac vaccine CoronaVac during a ceremonial vaccination at army headquarters on Tuesday.

Three other army generals also got the jab.

The Philippines has logged 580,442 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday, including 12,369 deaths.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte thanked China for donating the vaccines to the Philippines.

"From the bottom of my heart and with immense gratitude, I thank you, the Chinese people and government, for being so generous," Duterte said during a televised public address on Monday night.