To address the value of vaccine equity, celebrities, public figures, and politicians came together on Sunday night (May 2) at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, for Global Citizen’s “Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World.”
Along with musical performances from H.E.R., J. Balvin, J-Lo, Eddie Vedder, and Foo Fighters, special guests included Ben Affleck, Chrissy Teigen, Jimmy Kimmel, Sean Penn, and David Letterman along with the President of the United States and Prince Harry. Additional visitors and guest speakers included video recorded messages from Pope Francis, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
During one of the biggest concerts / gatherings in Southern California since the pandemic halted life more than a year ago, newly-elected President Joe Biden talked about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccination. He announced on stage via video message (alongside First Lady Dr. Jill Biden) that “the vaccines are safe” and he promised that “they work.” Biden assured the crowd that they are working around the clock with “leaders around the world to share more vaccines and boost production to make sure every country has the vaccines they need”.
In Prince Harry’s first public appearance since his grandfather’s UK funeral, he told the crowd, “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.” “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 at and that’s what tonight is about.” Both Prince Harry and his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, serve as campaign chairs of Vax Live.
Jennifer Lopez demonstrated (her) commitment to the movement by hugging and singing with her fully-vaccinated mother on stage in front of thousands of front line workers, as Ben Affleck (with whom she’s recently spent time since ending her marriage plans to Alex Rodriguez) took part in the overall event.
The Vax Live event raised more than $53,000,000 for Covax, the organization that works globally to insure that everyone, rich or poor, of any demographic, can get access to the vaccine. The money raised will go towards buying more than ten million dollars worth of doses and the event also paid beautiful tribute to first responders and healthcare workers
Global Citizen’s “Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World” ABC,CBS, ABC News Live, and YouTube will stream the event via video on May 8th, while iHeartMedia will handle the audio broadcast and streaming also on May 8.
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