TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The United States Embassy in Jakarta in a press statement on Tuesday announced US$30 million in urgent Covid-19 assistance through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for Indonesia to purchase additional oxygen, collaborate on ways to boost local oxygen production, and provide medicines to treat COVID-19 patients.

The USAID assistance will also help enhance vaccine rollouts through distribution, supporting readiness of vaccination facilities, and help disseminate health information to reduce vaccine hesitancy.

“We remain committed to our partnership with the government and people of Indonesia at this critical time. Our assistance will help ensure that more people are vaccinated and protected from this deadly disease and strengthen health facilities, enabling them to continue providing critical care and services to COVID-19 patients,” said U.S. Ambassador Sung Y. Kim of the United States Mission to Indonesia on August 3.

The U.S. support builds on previous assistance that provided vaccines, improved testing and tracing, enhanced treatment, and provided accurate and timely information about the pandemic.

This additional support from the American Rescue Plan Act brings the total U.S. COVID-19 provided Indonesia with over $77 million in funding, equipment, and technical support since the start of the pandemic.

The United States Government, through USAID and other U.S. government agencies, has partnered with Indonesian health experts to improve laboratories, disease surveillance, and rapid-response capacity.

The United States has also donated 1,000 American-made ventilators currently in use in 600 hospitals to help more patients survive and recover. In partnership with the Government of Indonesia and UNICEF through the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (COVAX AMC), a global initiative to support equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, the United States has delivered a total of eight million safe and effective Moderna vaccine doses to the Indonesian people.

The United States has committed an historic $4 billion contribution from the American people through Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, for the COVAX AMC.

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U.S. EMBASSY JAKARTA