Harry and Meghan to lead ‘Vax Live’ fundraising concert

Glenn Gamboa/AP Business Writer

Updated: Apr 27, 2021 / 09:10 AM CDT

FILE – In this Oct. 2, 2019, file photo, Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan Markle appear at the Creative Industries and Business Reception at the British High Commissioner’s residence in Johannesburg. Their first Netflix series will center on the Invictus Games, which gives sick and injured military personnel and veterans the opportunity to compete in sports. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Archewell Productions announced Tuesday its first series to hit the streaming service. (Dominic Lipinski/Pool via AP, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prince Harry and Meghan will serve as the campaign chairs of Global Citizen’s effort to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to medical workers in the world’s poorest countries.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will appear at “Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World,” to be taped Sunday at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and air on ABC, CBS, FOX, YouTube and iHeartMedia broadcast radio stations on May 8, Global Citizen, the anti-poverty nonprofit, announced Tuesday.

Harry and Meghan are also leading an effort to raise money for the vaccine-sharing program COVAX, which hopes to produce $19 billion to pay for the vaccines for medical workers.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will also appear during the broadcast as part of the “We Can Do This” initiative to increase confidence in COVID-19 vaccines. French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Croatian Prime Andrej Minister Plenković will also appear at the concert, which will be hosted by Selena Gomez and headlined by Jennifer Lopez.

Foo Fighters, Eddie Vedder, J Balvin and H.E.R. are also set to perform at the concert, with hosts Chrissy Teigen, David Letterman, Gayle King and Jimmy Kimmel and actors Ben Affleck, Nomzamo Mbatha, Olivia Munn and Sean Penn now also set to appear. The event is part of a growing chorus seeking wider, more equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. As of April, 60 nations had still not yet received any COVID-19 vaccines, Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans told the Associated Press.

“Last autumn, I called for the sharing of the doses ordered by our countries, to ensure both solidarity and health security,” Macron said in a statement. “With the European vaccine sharing mechanism via the COVAX initiative that France is inaugurating, we are in concrete solidarity in the fight against the virus, which does not care about borders. Today I call on all my colleagues to join this momentum and make a commitment at Vax Live.”