Prince Harry, Meghan Markle to join Hollywood celebrities in COVID vaccine concert

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will serve as campaign chairs of the VAX LIVE concert, a May 8 global broadcast and streaming special that celebrates the COVID-19 vaccine.

Selena Gomez will host the event described as "the concert to reunite the world," as it aims to encourage "world leaders to step up to make sure vaccines are accessible for all so we can end the pandemic for everyone, everywhere."

In their role, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will encourage the private sector to make donations to COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX), which is a vaccine-sharing program co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO).

"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 anybody behind," the couple said in a statement posted on their Archewell Foundation page.

"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," the statement continued.

The VAX LIVE concert is generally a fundraising campaign to make the COVID-19 vaccine available globally. During the program, it will encourage "philanthropists and corporations to donate enough "dollars for doses" to vaccinate over 27 million frontline health workers.

Global Citizen on their end will implore governments for a financial pledge of $19 billion for the acquisition of 1.8 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses plus tests and treatments that will go to the poorest countries in the world.

The star-studded event will see performances by Jennifer Lopez, Foo Fighters, J Balvin, H.E.R., and Eddie Vedder. Other big names in Hollywood will also make an appearance including Ben Affleck, Chrissy Teigen, Jimmy Kimmel, Olivia Munn, Sean Penn, David Letterman, and Nomzamo Mbatha.

Moreover, it will feature appearances by the Prime Ministers of Croatia and Canada, Andrej Plenković and Justin Trudeau, respectively. U.S. President and Vice President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and France President Emmanuel Macron are also expected to appear.

The VAX Live concert will mark Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's first major appearance since their explosive sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey in March. The event will air on ABC, ABC News Live, CBS, iHeartMedia, and on the Global Citizen channel on YouTube, at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT, and on FOX at 11 p.m. ET. Internationally, it will be available to watch on Brazil's Globo, Africa's MultiChoice, SABC in South Africa, and Caracol in Colombia.