The United States will ship more than 1.2-million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to four African countries through the global COVAX distribution program on Friday, a White House official said.

The shipments include 250 320 doses of the Moderna vaccine for the Democratic Republic of Congo, 657 080 Moderna doses for Uganda, 302 400 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for Guinea; and 35 100 doses of the vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech for Seychelles.

The doses are being delivered through COVAX, jointly run by the World Health Organization and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI).

Africa has lagged sharply behind other regions in vaccinating its citizens, with most countries reporting single-digit vaccination rates, compared with much higher double-digit rates in advanced economies such as the United States.