Source: United States Senator for Illinois Tammy Duckworth
Meeting Follows Duckworth’s Announcement of 3.5 Million More American Vaccines to Indonesia as Part of Biden Administration’s Global Vaccination Efforts
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] — U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) yesterday met with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi at the Embassy of Indonesia to discuss multiple important issues, including vaccine distribution, trade and national security. Duckworth lived in Indonesia as a child before serving in the United States Reserve Forces for 23 years and is now a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC).
“It was an honor to help welcome Foreign Minister Marsudi to our nation’s capital yesterday and discuss our recent donation of 3.5 million American vaccines to their nation,” Duckworth said. “I reiterated our nation’s commitment to our strategic partnership with Indonesia and to helping ensure the Indonesian people receive the safe, effective vaccine doses and international aid they need to reach the other side of this pandemic as they continue to face a tragic surge in COVID cases and deaths while delta variant cases spike worldwide. I’ll keep working with Foreign Minister Marsudi to advance our shared interests and find new areas of cooperation for our two great nations.”
Duckworth also spoke about this additional donation last month with the Indonesian Chargé d’Affaires in Washington, D.C., Mr. Iwan Freddy Hari Susanto. The U.S. has donated 8 million American vaccine doses to Indonesia so far, including the 3.5 million that Duckworth announced on Saturday. The U.S. has also invested nearly $36 million to support Indonesia’s efforts to reduce COVID-19 transmission, improve testing and treatment and provide accurate and timely information about the pandemic and provided 1,000 ventilators currently in use at more than 600 health facilities across Indonesia.
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