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Prince Harry shared a shocking yet powerful statement about the state of COVID-19 relief. Speaking at the taping of Global Citizen’s VAX Live Concert, the Duke of Sussex revealed just how challenging it is for many across the world to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
Both Harry and wife Meghan Markle have been dedicating their time to important causes lately, with their support of the VAX Live Concert being one of their most recent efforts.
Harry and Meghan were campaign chairs for the event, which took place last week at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California and aired publicly on May 8. The concert was hosted by Selena Gomez, and saw a litany of A-list celebrity appearances, including Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck, and Chrissy Teigen.
Hundreds of guests were in attendance at the event, all of them fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Their presence, along with the celebrity support, reiterates the importance of making COVID-19 vaccines fully accessible globally.
"Tonight is a celebration of each of you here, the vaccinated frontline workers in the audience and the millions of frontline heroes around the world," Prince Harry stated at the concert.
"You spent the last year battling courageously and selflessly to protect us all. You served and sacrificed, put yourselves in harm's way, and acted with bravery, knowing the costs. We owe you an incredible debt of gratitude. Thank you."
"But we're also coming together because this pandemic cannot end unless we act collectively with an unprecedented commitment to our shared humanity," the activist. continued. "The vaccine must be distributed to everyone everywhere. We cannot rest or truly recover until there is fair distribution to every corner of the world. The mission in front of us is one we cannot afford to fail out and that's what tonight is about.
"None of us should be comfortable thinking that we could be fine when so many others are suffering. In reality, and especially with this pandemic, when any suffer, we all suffer. We must look beyond ourselves with empathy and compassion for those we know, and those we don't."
Prince Harry concluded, "We need to lift up all of humanity and make sure that no person or community is left behind. What we do in this moment will stand in history and tonight, we stand in solidarity with the millions of families across India who are battling a devastating second wave."
In the United States, everyone over the age of 16 is currently eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. There are now 118 million fully vaccinated people in the country, accounting for over 35% of the population.
But many others across the world are not as fortunate.
Only 4.3% of the global population is vaccinated against COVID-19.
For comparison, less than one percent of the populations of each Egypt Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand and South Africa have received the vaccine.
There are international efforts to help make the vaccine more accessible, such as the Covax Scheme, though Prince Harry is aimnig to remind all of us that the pandemic remains a global crisis - despite how many Americans have already been vaccinated.
