The Latest: US ships 3.2M J&J vaccine doses to Philippines

WASHINGTON — The U.S. 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.

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MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:

— Melbourne to lockdown for 5 days because of virus cases

— How the pandemic may have accelerated the creep of authoritarianism

— Vaccine deliveries in Asia finally picking up speed

— Summer setback: COVID-19 deaths and cases rising again globally

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— Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

MELBOURNE — Australia’s second-largest city will lockdown for five days from Thursday night due to growing COVID-19 clusters.

Melbourne’s fifth lockdown of the pandemic will apply across Victoria state, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said on Thursday.

The news came after officials announced on Wednesday that Australia’s largest city, Sydney, will remain in lockdown...