WASHINGTON (Reuters] – As part of its pledge to provide about 1.2 billion vaccines to low-income nations, the United States sent 400 million doses of COVID-19 to them.

Jeff Zients from the White House COVID-19 coordinator stated to reporters that “Today is a milestone in our global efforts: 400 million vaccines delivered to 112 nations… free of strings attached,” he said at a briefing.

There are 3.2 millions doses in the latest batch. Pfizer Inc (NYSE) and BioNTechSE (NASDAQ) have released vaccines to Bangladesh and Pakistan. CNN first reported this Wednesday, citing an official from the White House.

Biden’s administration previously pledged to give 500 million more vaccines to COVAX, bringing its total commitment to 1.2 billion COVID vaccines. The latest batch is expected to ship this month.

Experts in global health have estimated that at most 5 billion to 6 trillion doses of coronavirus vaccine are required by the poor countries. This is to protect them from the continuing pandemic.

COVAX overall, backed both by the World Health Organization and by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization has already delivered over a billion doses, to 144 nations, and aims for 70% COVID-19 immunization coverage in mid-2022.

Some health experts criticize rich countries because they are not making COVID-19 vaccines easier to access. The United States is a notable exception, pushing booster shots for all Americans who have been fully vaccinated. However, the majority of the world’s population still needs their first shots.

A number of experts and leaders in developing countries have expressed concern that wealthy countries could hoard vaccines to create new strains.

Wednesday’s White House defense was defended by the White House, stating that they had sent more drug samples free of charge than any other nation.

Put America’s leadership in perspective. Zients stated that we have sent four times as many free drugs to the world, than any other nation,” he told reporters.