Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy
August 03, 2021
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Tuesday released the following statement on President Biden’s announcement that the United States has shared 110 million COVID-19 vaccine doses abroad:
“We can’t beat COVID-19 at home without working to beat it abroad. I’m glad to see President Biden understands this, as he got 110 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to over sixty countries in such a short amount of time. Not to mention the effective––but still ongoing––vaccine rollout in our own backyard,” said Murphy. “At the same time, we need to make sure American citizens living abroad have access to the vaccine too. I know this is a difficult task, which is why I brainstormed solutions today with the State Department’s Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources Brian McKeon. I am hopeful we can get vaccines to Americans in need wherever they live and look forward to continue collaborating with the administration on such a critical issue.”
Last week, Murphy’s amendment calling for a strategy from the administration to send supplemental doses of vaccines to embassies and consulates to reach unvaccinated Americans abroad passed through the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee as part of legislation he helped author—the International Pandemic Preparedness and COVID-19 Response Act (S. 2297). In June, Murphy led his colleagues on both sides of the aisle in calling on U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to support COVID-19 vaccination efforts for the nine million Americans living abroad.
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