A ceremony to mark the arrival of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines in Afghanistan was held in the Afghan Presidential Palace in Kabul on Saturday. 

Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, Acting Minister of Public Health Wahid Majrooh, senior officials from the Afghan government and Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu attended the event.

"Vaccine is a gift of life, and we thank China for its help," President Ghani told the audience attending the handover ceremony.

The Afghan leader said the donation of medical supplies and vaccines of China would help Afghanistan defeat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking at the ceremony, Chinese Ambassador Wang said that China would provide more assistance to Afghanistan to help Afghans contain the pandemic.

A total of 700,000 doses of Chinese vaccines and other medical materials have been delivered to the Afghan government. 

Afghanistan has reported 87,716 COVID-19 cases with a death toll of 3,412, according to Johns Hopkins University.

(With input from Xinhua)