WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) - The United States International Development Finance Corp will help fund Indian manufacturer Biological E's efforts to manufacture at least one billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of 2022.

The vaccines will be manufactured with "Stringent Regulatory Authorisation and/or World Health Organisation Emergency Use Listing, including Johnson & Johnson vaccines", the US agency said in a release on Friday (March 13).

The announcement is part of the agency's Global Health and Prosperity Initiative, under which it is working to increase manufacturing, production and distribution of vaccines, including Covid-19 vaccines.

The cooperation on boosting vaccine manufacturing capability was discussed by the leaders of the US, India, Japan and Australia in their first virtual summit on Friday.

The so-called Quad group agreed to expand efforts to ramp up vaccine manufacturing in the region, including boosting India's vaccine output. To help India reach its target, Japan is in talks to provide loans, according to a fact sheet provided at the meeting's end.