U.S. to send 3 million J&J COVID-19 vaccine doses to Brazil

FILE PHOTO: Boxes of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine are seen at the McKesson Corporation, amid the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Shepherdsville, U.S., March 1, 2021. Timothy D. Easley/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Thursday will ship 3 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson one-shot COVID-19 vaccine to Brazil, the country with the second-highest coronavirus death toll in the world, a White House official said on Wednesday.

The shipment - part of Washington's pledge to donate 80 million vaccines - will depart Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on an Azul Airlines flight Thursday evening, bound for Campinas, a city in southeastern Brazil about 100 km (62 miles) from Sao Paulo, the official said.