US ships 3.2M J&J vaccine doses to Philippines

The US is shipping more than 3.2 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine to the Philippines.

The White House tells the Associated Press the donated single-shot vaccines will begin arriving in the Philippines later this week through COVAX, the international program coordinating vaccine sharing with lower- and middle-income countries.

It's one of the largest installments of shipments in the U.S.'s expanding vaccine diplomacy campaign, with the nation now sharing about 50 million doses with the world. More than 30 million doses are awaiting shipment to other countries, pending regulatory and logistical clearances.

The U.S. also will purchase 500 million Pfizer doses to share globally in the upcoming year, with the first doses delivered in August.