Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have accused G20 leaders of failing to ensure poorer countries are given access to Covid-19 vaccines.
The couple has penned an open letter, co-signed by WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, demanding leaders of the 'wealthiest' nations at the G20 summit to send more vaccines to low-income countries.
The document comes just one day before the G20 leaders' summit is due to get underway in Rome. It is the first face-to-face G20 summit since Covid struck.
Last month, Meghan, 40, and Harry, 37, announced they had partnered with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to host a 'dialogue on the urgent need to achieve global vaccine equity'.
In the letter, the couple spoke about G7 leaders pledging in June to provide one billion vaccine doses over the next year, but asked where the doses are, claiming some nations still do not have doses for their own health workers.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry accused G20 leaders of failing to ensure poorer countries are given access to Covid-19 vaccines in an open letter published on WHO's website
They slammed G20 and G7 leaders as they claimed that the promises that have been made are not leading to people around the world getting much-needed vaccines.
The open document, published on WHO's website, read: 'Of the almost 7 billion doses that have been administered globally, just 3 percent of people in low-income countries have had a jab so far. Where are the rest?
'COVAX, the initiative designed to help achieve fair global access to COVID vaccines, has been promised 1.3 billion doses to be donated for the low-income countries it supports, yet it has been able to ship only 150 million - 11.5 percent – to date. Where are the rest?
'Promises aren't translating into vaccines reaching the people that need them.'
The couple said some G20 nations have 'surplus vaccines that are destined to be wasted once they expire', arguing that everyone should be outraged by any wasted doses.
The letter continued: 'Every discarded dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, when there are the mechanisms to donate them, should outrage us all.
'Each dose represents a real person—a mother, father, daughter, or son—who could have been protected.
'Each of us come from very different places, backgrounds, and life experiences, but we share a common goal: to tackle global inequity.'
The couple slammed G20 and G7 leaders as they claimed that people around the world are not getting much-needed vaccines. Pictured: Student gets a vaccine in Oxford on September 17
Alongside a number of WHO representatives and charity leaders, the couple called on global leaders to help end the Covid-19 pandemic 'once and for all'.
They added: 'G20 leaders have the power to accelerate long-promised donations and to commit to breaking the hold that manufacturing countries and pharmaceutical companies currently have over access to the vaccines and how they're made.'
Meghan and Harry went on to demand that everyone must do 'everything' in their power to get vaccine doses to as many people across the globe 'in the right order'.
The letter claimed many obstacles in distributing Covid vaccines are 'avoidable', including the 'inability or unwillingness of vaccine producing countries and pharmaceutical firms to share' their vaccines.
The document added: 'We understand that the pandemic recovery is nuanced and deeply complex, but we have a window of opportunity to come together as a global community and meet our humanitarian promises.'
The couple called on G20 leaders to help nations manufacture their own vaccines and prioritise giving doses to those most in need, saying this will help to reach the goal of vaccinating 40 percent of all countries by the end of this year.
They concluded: 'There are many crises that you – the stewards of our planet – must grapple with this weekend: the climate emergency, the state of our global
