Selamat pagi and thank you for the opportunity to speak on this important occasion.
I would like to first thank Foreign Minister Marsudi and her colleagues in the Indonesian government for their commitment, leadership, and partnership as we fight the coronavirus pandemic together.
On behalf of the American people, I am pleased to announce the arrival of 4.6 million doses of safe, effective, and life-saving Pfizer vaccine.
This round of vaccine shipments is in addition to 8 million doses of Moderna donated recently by the United States to Indonesia and is part of our commitment to share half a billion Pfizer vaccine doses with the international community.
The United States is sharing these vaccines unconditionally, with no strings attached, because equitable global access to safe and effective vaccines is essential to ending the pandemic.
We believe that the best way out of this pandemic is to increase global vaccination coverage. Together with the Government of Indonesia and our civil society partners, we are working quickly to get these safe and effective vaccines to as many people as possible.
The United States is committed to leading the global COVID-19 response because it is the right thing to do and will make us all –Americans and Indonesians alike — safer. We are proud to work with Indonesia to end this pandemic and build back a better world.
Our work with Indonesia on COVID goes well beyond vaccine donation. We are working with our Indonesian friends to support mobile vaccination clinics, build a robust cold chain for vaccine distribution, train health workers, improve testing, and encourage everyone to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated. We also provided 1,000 ventilators currently in use at over 600 health facilities across Indonesia.
U.S. private sector companies also continue their generous COVID-related support to Indonesia. Their engagement reflects the strong friendship between our two countries.
Certainly, there will be much more for us to do, but we’re going to get through this pandemic together. We look forward to collaborating with the government and people of Indonesia to find other areas of cooperation toward building a safer and more prosperous future.
