Prince Harry and Meghan Markle demand world leaders share vaccines to ‘restore faith in humanity’

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle today announced themselves ‘campaign chairs’ of an A-list event called ‘VaxLive’, where they will demand world leaders including Joe Biden and Boris Johnson ‘share’ vaccines’, especially with India.

‘Vax Live’: The Concert to Reunite the World, organised by Global Canada Citizen and hosted by star Selena Gomez, will be held virtually at the beginning of May, with the Sussexes saying it will ‘restore faith in humanity’ by celebrating the hope provided by vaccines. 

Harry, 35, and Meghan, 39, will be joined by an A-List line up, with appearances from the couple’s close friend Gayle King, as well as Ben Affleck, Chrissy Teigen, David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, Nomzamo Mbatha, Olivia Munn and Sean Penn. 

The announcement coincides with demands for President Biden to hand over all of America’s 60 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to India as part of a global drive to help fight the world’s most devastating coronavirus outbreak.

On Monday, the US announced that 60 million doses of the so-far unapproved vaccine will be made available to send abroad, once the doses are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Downing Street today rejected a similar move today, with Boris Johnson’s Official Spokesman saying ‘we don’t have surplus doses’ and the focus will remain on the rollout of jabs in the UK.  

India is facing a second wave of the deadly virus, with a million new cases in just three days. For the past two weeks, medical facilities have been running out of oxygen and ICU beds, with some patients dying as they wait outside hospitals. 

The Sussexes said in a statement today: ‘Over the past year, our world has experienced pain, loss and struggle – together. Now we need to recover and heal – together. We can’t leave anyone behind. 

‘We will all benefit, we will all be safer, when everyone everywhere has equal access to the vaccine. 

‘We must pursue equitable vaccine distribution, and in that, restore faith in our common humanity. This mission couldn’t be more critical or important.’  

A description of the concert online reads: ‘We are calling on world leaders to step up to make sure vaccines are accessible for all so we can end the pandemic for everyone, everywhere.’

It will also feature performances from the likes of Jennifer Lopez Eddie Vedder, Foo Fighters, J Balvin and H.E.R, leveraging the Sussexes wide network of celebrity friends. 

Global Citizen describes itself as a movement of ‘engaged citizens who are using their collective voice to end extreme poverty by 2030’. 

Its website states: ‘Global Citizens learn about the systemic causes of extreme poverty, take action on those issues, and earn rewards for their actions — as part of a global community committed to lasting change.’

‘Their mission is to build a movement of 100M action-taking Global Citizens to help achieve our vision of ending extreme poverty by 2030.’ 

The Sussexes’ announcement today comes in the midst of intense debate about the West can help India and whether this should include sharing vaccines.  

With three jabs already approved and in-use in the United States – the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines – there are already enough vaccines for all Americans. As a result, its stockpile of millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine is likely to go unused.

Last week, some of India’s major newspapers accused the US of vaccine nationalism after a State Department spokesperson said the US needed its temporary export ban on vaccines because ‘not only in our interest to see Americans vaccinated; it’s in the interests of the rest of the world to see Americans vaccinated.’

The Biden administration has also come under fire from Americans of Indian heritage, and from others around the world, who say Washington is ‘hoarding’ the British-developed vaccine that it is yet to approve as India – a country of almost 1.4 billion people – is overwhelmed by Covid-19.

‘We have to be strategic and responsible,’ said South Bay Congressman Ro Khanna, who argues the US should send its unused AstraZeneca vaccines to India.

‘We cannot give those shots to Americans because our FDA has not approved them. So they literally will sit in a stockpile and not be used by an American. The question is are they safe enough to be used by the rest of the world,’ Khanna said. 

The US has come under heavy criticism for its vaccine strategy, saying that it will only export vaccines to other countries when there are enough for ever adult who wants one in America.

But the White House announced last week that deliveries of Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines would be enough to meet its goal. Johnson & Johnson is also contracted to deliver 100 million doses to the government.

Now, the US’ stance on vaccine exports appears to have softened amid the criticism, with the Biden administration announcing that 60 million doses of AstraZeneca will be shipped to other countries.

The vaccine announcement greatly expands a US action from last month to loan four million AstraZeneca doses to Mexico and Canada. 

It is believed that 10 million doses are ready to go, but must first be cleared for use by the FDA. The other 50 millions doses are in various stages of production.

It is expected that priority will be given to India amid the crisis that has left the country’s healthcare system on the brink.   

For five consecutive days until Monday, India was reporting global record one-day Covid cases figures that topped out above 350,000 cases. Tuesday’s figure is 323,144, though experts warn that is likely the result of less testing at the weekend and not a sign that the wave of infections is slowing. 

On Tuesday, Indian health authorities reported another 2,771 deaths from the virus – slightly lower than Monday’s count but again amid warnings that many deaths are going uncounted. 

Speaking on Tuesday, a doctor at the heart of India’s coronavirus outbreak warned that the next two weeks ‘are going to be hell’.

Dr Shaarang Sachdev, from the Aakash Healthcare Super Speciality Hospital in the hard-hit capital of Delhi, said the country is experiencing its worst point of the pandemic so far and described the current situation as ‘critical’.

Other nations like Germany, Israel, France and Pakistan have also promised medical aid to India. 

The countries have said they will supply oxygen, diagnostic tests, treatments, ventilators and protective gear to help India at the time of crisis which World Health Organization’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday called ‘beyond heartbreaking.’

However, Downing Street today rejected calls to send coronavirus vaccines due to a lack of surplus doses. 

The PM’s official spokesman said the Government ‘will keep this under review’ and pointed out that ministers had committed to sending ‘excess’ jabs to countries in need ‘once they are available’. 

Medics have warned that the second wave of infections in the country is being driven by a ‘far more infectious and probably far more deadly’ strain of the virus that has pushed hospitals ‘beyond crisis point’ in just a matter of weeks.  

The UK announced earlier this week that it was sending more than 600 pieces of medical equipment to India following the surge in cases.  

There have been calls for the Government to go further and to consider diverting some of the UK’s vaccine supply to the country. 

But the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman said: ‘As you will know, we committed in February to sending excess doses from the UK’s supply to the Covax procurement pool and to countries in need once they are available.

‘Right now we are moving through the UK prioritisation list for our domestic rollout and we don’t have surplus doses.

‘But obviously we will keep this under review. We fully recognise that no one is safe until we are all safe in this pandemic which is why the UK has contributed £548million to Covax and sent vital medical supplies to India.’   

Today it emerged that Harry and Meghan’s popularity ratings have fallen again to their lowest-ever levels following Prince Philip’s funeral. 

The couple’s popularity previously plummeted in the wake of their explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which they made accusations of racism within the Royal Family.

And they have not regained favour with the British public since, with Prince Harry’s popularity falling another three points following the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh on April 17, a YouGov survey found.

Pregnant Meghan, who remained in the US rather than attend the funeral at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, at the advice of her doctor, has also seen her popularity fall by five points in the last six weeks, figures show.

Meanwhile, both Prince Edward and Prince Charles have experienced a growth in popularity since March 12.

And, in an unwavering sign of support following the death of her husband, the Queen saw a sharp boost in public favour from an 80 per cent positive view to 85 per cent. She remains the most popular royal.

Prince William and his wife Kate also remain very popular, according to the latest poll, with about three quarters of Britons giving them favourable reviews.

Prince Andrew remains by far the least popular royal, with an 79 per cent negative view, according to the poll.

According to the data, of more than 1,700 Britons between April 21 and 22, public opinion of Prince Harry has remained largely negative despite his return home for the funeral of his grandfather this month.

The latest figures show 43 per cent of Britons now have a positive opinion of Prince Harry, while 49 per cent regard him negatively.

This gives the once popular prince a net score of -6 in terms of popularity – a drop of three points from March 12.

Earlier today, a royal expert claimed Prince Charles wants to slim the monarchy down in order to save money.

Royal biographer Angela Levin said the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – who currently live in an £11million mansion in California with their son Archie – could be ‘cut’ from The Firm, with a shrunk down version just including Charles, Camilla, William, Kate Middleton, Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte as senior royals. 

Other royals could be encouraged to take on paid work to help support themselves – and may lose their titles and patronages.

Ms Levin said on talkRADIO: ‘Prince Charles has wanted for a very long time to cut the monarchy down to save costs and to make people be worth the money that they got from the taxpayer.

‘I imagine that might be when Harry and Meghan are ditched from being members of the Royal family.

‘I think the outer edge, which the Queen has wanted to keep together for a very long time for sentimental reasons, which at her age she didn’t really particularly want change which I think is understandable.

‘But he wants to change and I think he will do that.’

Rumours of Harry and Meghan facing the chop come as the couple’s biography Finding Freedom is set to be re-released this summer, once more raking over royal rifts and addressing the couple’s explosive Oprah Winfrey interview.

The first edition, by authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, was published on August 11 last year and painted a flattering picture of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from when they met in 2016 to their departure from the Firm in early 2020.

It is now being updated with new chapters, covering their tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey last month, the allegations that Meghan, 39, bullied royal staff – which she denies – and the death of Prince Philip.

The new version, which is also expected to discuss their multi-million pound deals with Netflix and Spotify, their new life in California and the Queen’s decision to strip them of their royal patronages including Harry’s military roles, will go on sale on August 5.