The United States is shipping nearly 1.7 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Uganda, a White House official said, in the latest wave of jabs donated to stem the global pandemic.

“Thanks to the US commitment to playing a leading role in ending the pandemic everywhere, the United States is shipping 1,684,800 doses of Pfizer vaccine to Uganda,” a senior US official said, asking not to be named.

The vaccines are being shipped, starting Thursday, through Covax, the global distribution initiative co-led by public-private partnership Gavi.