Harry and Meghan are due to join stars including Jennifer Lopez, the Foo Fighters, Ben Affleck and Chrissy Teigen at a special concert in aid of the global vaccination effort.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been made campaign chairs for Global Citizen’s Vax Live event encouraging donations to Covax, an initiative working to provide vaccines for low and middle-income countries.

Hosted by Selena Gomez, the event will take place in Los Angeles on 8 May and will feature musical performances by Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, J Balvin and HER, as well as Lopez and the Foo Fighters.

Affleck and Teigen will appear as special guests alongside speakers including David Letterman, Gayle King, Jimmy Kimmel and Sean Penn, who will talk about vaccine equity from around the world.

In a joint statement, Harry and Meghan highlighted the need for equal access to COVID-19 vaccines.

“Over the past year, our world has experienced pain, loss, and struggle – together,” they said. “Now we need to recover and heal – together.

“We can’t leave anybody behind. 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.”

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US President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will also take part in the event, billed as “the concert to reunite the world”.

Organisers said appearances by French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic are also planned.

A trailer for Vax Live promises it will feature “big names and an even bigger message”.

The event will be pre-recorded at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California, and air across networks including ABC, CBS, and iHeartMedia broadcast radio stations.

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