Japan is set to ship a total of 1.6 million doses of coronavirus vaccine to Nepal through the U.N.-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing program, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

Japan will fly about 510,000 doses of AstraZeneca Plc vaccine made domestically under license on Thursday, and 330,000 more the following day.

Nepal has seen an increase in the number of daily coronavirus infections since April, while only around 6.7 percent of its people have been double-vaccinated, according to the Japanese ministry.

The move comes as many people in the South Asian country have little prospect of receiving a second shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the ministry said.

The cumulative total of coronavirus infections in Nepal reached 700,000 as of Monday, with the death toll standing at about 10,000, it said.