The White House on Thursday said it will provide Afghanistan with 3 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine to help with a coronavirus outbreak fueled by the delta variant.
The Associated Press reports that White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre made the announcement aboard Air Force One on Thursday as President Joe Biden flew to Raleigh, North Carolina, to encourage Americans to get vaccinated.
The announcement also came a day before Biden meets with President Ashraf Ghani and the Afghan delegation at the White House on Friday.
Quoted by the Associated Press, Jean-Pierre said the Johnson & Johnson vaccines – only one shot is required – could be shipped as soon as next week.
The US is also providing oxygen and other supplies to Afghanistan.
AP reports that the 3 million doses are part of an overall donation of 55 million doses to the world that the White House announced earlier this week.
The positive cases of COVID-19 have been on the rise over the last three weeks.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Public Health reported 1,900 new positive cases of COVID-19 and 63 deaths from coronavirus in a day.
The government once again extended the closure of schools for another two weeks on Thursday.
