Harry appears at Vax Live event
BRITAIN’S Prince Harry joined pop royalty including Jennifer Lopez at a star-studded concert in Los Angeles on Sunday to urge faster and more even global vaccinations, as he voiced support for India during its devastating Covid-19 outbreak.
“Vax Live: The Concert To Reunite The World” featured video messages from the pope and US President Joe Biden and appearances from Hollywood stars such as Ben Affleck and Sean Penn. The show will air on television and YouTube on May 8, after being pre-taped in front of thousands of fully-vaccinated spectators at a vast California stadium.
“Tonight, we stand in solidarity with the millions of families across India, who are battling a devastating second wave,” said Prince Harry, who was greeted with a standing ovation.
“The virus does not respect borders, and access to the vaccine cannot be determined by geography,” added Harry, making his first in-person appearance at a major public event in California since moving last year to the US with wife Meghan Markle, who did not appear.
The concert organised by Global Citizen, an international advocacy organisation, aims to battle vaccine disinformation while calling on world leaders and corporations to take action and make donations.
Thousands of spectators gathered inside the recently completed SoFi stadium for the first time. Most attendees were front-line medical workers.
Selena Gomez hosted proceedings, calling for “doses and dollars” to go to the world’s poorest countries even as California and parts of the West emerge from lengthy lockdowns thanks to massive inoculation progress.
Organisers said the event had surpassed its fundraising goal need to buy 10 million vaccine doses for low and middle-income countries, drawing more than $53 million (R763m) from corporations and philanthropists.
In pre-taped messages, President Biden said he was “working with leaders around the world to share more vaccines and boost production” while Pope Francis said: “I beg you not to forget the most vulnerable.”