What Are Meghan Markle And Prince Harry So Upset About Regarding COVID-19?

One of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's pledges when they resigned as British royals in 2019 was to devote more time to philanthropic endeavors. Thus far, the facts show them keeping that promise (despite critics' insistence otherwise). Harry, alongside Oprah Winfrey, launched his own Apple TV+ series in May on mental health, "The Me You Can't See," to name one example.

As for Meghan, she utilized the occasion of her 40th birthday to launch her 40x40 campaign, which helps women reenter the workforce. Meghan shared in an August 4 video via the Archewell website, "Over two million women in the U.S. alone, and tens of millions around the world have lost their jobs due to COVID. And I think if we all do it, and all commit 40 minutes to some sort of act of service, we can create a ripple effect," Meghan stated at the time.

Then, the couple addressed COVID-19 vaccine inequity at the Global Citizen Festival on September 25, with Meghan saying, per People, "Every single person on this planet has a fundamental right to get this vaccine... that's not happening." Now, in an open letter posted on October 29, they expressed continued unhappiness at the situation.

In addition to their galvanizing late September speech at the Global Citizen Festival, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry wrote an open letter to leaders at the G20 Summit, calling the paucity of the vaccine in low-income nations something that "should outrage us all." Together with WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the couple noted in their letter, "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?" 

The couple then took more specific aim at the leaders present at the summit being held in Rome on October 30 and 31. "When the leaders of the world's wealthiest nations met at the G7 Summit in June, they collectively announced that 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines would be sent to low- and low-and-middle-income countries," they stated. "Yet, as several nations still don't even have enough vaccines for their own health workers, the world is left asking: Where are the doses?"

Harry and Meghan concluded their written address that "cooperation of historic proportion is the only solution. Lives literally depend on it." Clearly, this isn't an issue the couple is ready to give up on anytime soon.