Jennifer Lopez and her mother Guadalupe Rodríguez perform on stage during Global Citizen’s “Vax Live: The World Reunited Concert” at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Kevin Winter / Getty Images for Global Citizen VAX LIVE hide subtitles
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Kevin Winter / Getty Images for Global Citizen VAX LIVE
Jennifer Lopez and her mother Guadalupe Rodríguez perform on stage during Global Citizen’s “Vax Live: The World Reunited Concert” at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
Kevin Winter / Getty Images for Global Citizen VAX LIVE
A benefit concert harnessed the great power of the stars in a Saturday broadcast to address the latest obstacles to resolving the pandemic: vaccine inequality and vaccine reluctance.
During Global Citizen’s “Vax Live: The World Reunification Concert”, politicians, celebrities and musicians asked the public to get vaccinated and to discourage world leaders from holding vaccine supplies as the world has huge access gaps to face COVID-19 vaccines.
Recorded in front of a personal audience of 27,000 fully vaccinated health and social workers at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, the event painted a picture of what a post-pandemic world might look like if everyone were vaccinated against the coronavirus .
At the start of the show, pop star Jennifer Lopez hugged her mother on stage during the first of two performances of the night while watching “Sweet Caroline”.
“We’ve been away from loved ones for too long, but we’re back,” said Lopez. “While we are getting better, there are people all over the world – especially in Africa, India and the Latin American world – who still need our help and vaccines.”
Hugh Evans, CEO of the anti-poverty organization Global Citizen, which hosted the event, said the moment between mother and daughter is “the power of the vaccine at work”.
“You were both fully vaccinated so you can hug your friends and family again,” he told NPR. “It is these powerful things that we have been working towards.”
Before the broadcast said Global Citizen Campaign had risen $ 302 million and secured over 26 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
The money will be used as part of for the delivery of vaccines, tests and personal protective equipment the COVAX initiative. Efforts, led by the World Health Organization, Gavi, and other partners, aim to distribute vaccines and supplies evenly around the world.
Evans said all promised vaccine doses will be delivered to low-income countries by the end of this year, under an agreement with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
Prince Harry, who co-directed the event with his wife Megan Markle, took the stage to thank the staff at the front.
“We cannot rest or really recover until there is an equitable distribution in every corner of the world,” said the Duke of Sussex. “The virus does not respect borders and access to the vaccine cannot be geographically determined.”
“We need to look beyond ourselves with empathy and compassion for those we know and for those we do not know.”
While the US and other wealthy countries have more doses than people who want them, the poorest got it less than 1% of global supply.
India faces you heavy second wave and only 2% of the population is fully vaccinated. And two dozen countries, mostly in Africa, use less than a third of their vaccines because they are suspicious of perceived risks and have no international support to cover the vaccine dispensing.
The event also featured video messages from Pope Francis, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris.
His Holiness called for “a spirit of justice that mobilizes us to ensure real universal access to vaccines” and “a spirit of community that enables us to develop another economic model that is inclusive, fair and sustainable”.
The President and First Lady encouraged people to get vaccinated: “We can’t let up now,” said President Biden. “The vaccines are safe, I promise they are safe. They work.”
In a snappy clip, Oprah Winfrey unpacked the science of vaccines and rollout logistics with the help of public health experts.
Meghan Markle spoke about how women worldwide, especially women of skin color, “have wiped out a generation of economic gains due to the pandemic,” with millions of people facing extreme poverty.
Selena Gomez, who hosted the concert special, sent an urgent appeal to the audience.
“If you’re on the fence about getting vaccinated, if you don’t think you need it to protect yourself, I’m not going to teach you. I’m going to ask. Please get vaccinated – for your family, yours Neighbors and every single person you come in contact with, “said the singer.
Also on stage were Chrissy Teigen, David Letterman, Ben Affleck, Jimmy Kimmel, Sean Penn and Olivia Munn.
Musical performances included the Foo Fighters – with a surprise guest Brian Johnson from AC / DC – as well as Eddie Vedder, J Balvin and HER
