Vax Live: How you can donate to the cause

An international advocacy group working to end global poverty is hosting a benefit concert, featuring some of music’s biggest names, in the hope of raising money for vaccine distribution.

Global Citizen’s pre-recorded “Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World” is aiming to raise $22.1 billion from governments, businesses and philanthropists. It will be broadcast on major US TV channels, and YouTube on 8 May.

The group is also asking pharmaceutical companies, like Moderna, to make more coronavirus vaccines available at a not-for-profit price.

The star-studded concert took place on 2 May and was hosted by Selena Gomez and chaired by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. It was attended by thousands of frontline workers, all of whom had been fully vaccinated.

Aside from performances by Jennifer Lopez, J Balvin and the Foo Fighters, major political figures US President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris were amongst the speakers at the event.

Vax Live’s goal is to improve vaccine equity worldwide by raising money for COVAX, an initiative that aims to ensure vaccines are available in countries worldwide, regardless of their wealth.

COVAX is co-led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness.

Speaking at the event, Prince Harry implored governments to fairly distribute vaccines to ‘every corner of the world’.

“The virus does not respect borders, and access to the vaccine cannot be determined by geography,” he said, as per the BBC.

While the live event managed to raise $53.8 million (£38.8 million) for COVAX – the equivalent of 10.3 million vaccine doses – Global Citizen is still short of its target.

Ahead of the event airing, you can donate to the cause in several ways.

Global Citizen is taking contributions directly through its website, where users can either make a one-time donation or set up a monthly debit.

You can also donate to COVAX through Gavi, which has pledged to help those in need from 92 lower-income economies.

The procurement and distribution of vaccines under COVAX is being managed by UNICEF. On its donation page, the organisation says £31 could provide a full kit of PPE for a health worker, while £45 could transport 1593 doses of vaccines.

The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine has launched a separate initiative, #BumpItForward, which asks those who have been vaccinated to gift the equivalent cost of a vaccine, £25, to a frontline worker in Africa.

You can watch the concert on YouTube on Saturday, 8 May.

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