Prince Harry slams anti-vaxxers, saying they ‘peddle lies and fears’
He appeared via video link at last night's GQ Men of the Year awards.
He appeared via video link at last night's GQ Men of the Year awards.
Prince Harry made a surprise guest appearance at the GQ Men of the Year awards last night.
Appearing via live stream from California - where he joked about being dressed up in a tuxedo at 3pm in the afternoon - he congratulated the winners and spent the majority of his time on stage tearing down anti-vaxxers.
Slamming those who refuse to get their Covid-19 vaccinations, he said that the ‘mass-scale misinformation that creates vaccine hesitancy’ is causing those most in need to miss out on the medicine that could save their lives.
He said that those individuals are 'peddling lies and fear’ as he presented an award to the brains behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
This comes the same week as it's revealed a key Royal family member went undercover for MI5 and that Harry and Meghan have 'no regrets' from stepping back from Royal life.
Warning viewers that Covid-19 is still very much at large, the Prince also urged Governments to offer jabs to poorer countries, highlighting that 98% of people in developing countries are yet to be offered the vaccine.
According to the Prince, five billion vaccines have been injected globally. While this is over a third of the population, he believes more needs to be done to ensure everyone is protected.
Celebrities including Piers Morgan, Laura Whitmore and Winnie Harlow were in the audience at the event.
He said: "It sounds like a major accomplishment and in many ways it is, but there is a huge disparity between who can and cannot access the vaccine."
"Less than 2% of people in the developing world have received a single dose at this point. And many of the healthcare workers are still not vaccinated."
"We cannot move forward together unless we address this imbalance as one. At the same time, families around the world are being overwhelmed by mass-scale misinformation across news media and social media, where those who peddle in lies and fear are creating vaccine hesitancy, which in turn leads to divided communities and eroding trust."
"This is a system we need to break if we are to overcome Covid-19 and the risk of new variants."
He continued: "Until every community can access the vaccine and until every community is connected to trustworthy information about the vaccine, then we are all at risk."
As he congratulated Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert and Professor Catherine Green, the inventors of the vaccine, the Duke called them ‘our nation’s pride’ and added: "We are deeply indebted to their service. For the rest of us, including global governments, pharmaceutical leaders and heads of business, we have to keep doing our part."
"That must include sharing vaccine science and supporting and empowering developing countries with more flexibility. Where you are born should not affect your ability to survive when the drugs and know-how exist to keep you alive and well."
