After Priyanka Chopra's tweet asking that the USA share its stock of vaccines with India blew up, the actress made some time on Wednesday to respond to some of the questions and comments posted to her online. The questions ranged from which countries should be filling the vaccine gap right now to comments on why some are wary of getting their vaccine shot. A question on whether Priyanka would be helping arrange vaccines and oxygen for her home country was answered in the affirmative - Priyanka says she and the Global Citizen Vax Live project - she is an ambassador for the Global Citizen collective - will work to ensure help is given where required. India is battling a devastating second COVID wave in which soaring infections have been compounded by a crippling deficit in hospital beds and oxygen as well as a reported shortage of vaccines.
The Joe Biden administration announced this week that the USA would share its AstraZeneca vaccine supply with other countries. Priyanka Chopra prefaced her responses with a note explaining that while she was "relieved to hear that the US will share up to 60 million AstraZeneca doses with countries in need," she was concerned by the lack of a clear timeline. USA has said they are "sending immediately a whole series of help" to India, including raw materials for vaccines - US President Joe Biden also told reporters this week that he had discussed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when USA will be able to send India actual vaccines.
Priyanka Chopra wrote in her note, "I am heartened by President Biden's additional comments yesterday that he intends to send vaccines to India in the near future. So far the US has confirmed, pending FDA approval, that 10 million doses could be shared within the next few weeks. However, it could take months before the remaining 50 million are delivered."
Here is Priyanka Chopra's statement tweeted today:
Here are some of her responses to questions and comments on her original tweet:
In her original tweet, posted earlier this week, Priyanka Chopra wrote: "My heart breaks. India is suffering from COVID 19 and the US has ordered 550 million more vaccines than needed. Thanks for sharing AstraZeneca worldwide but the situation in my country is critical. Will you urgently share vaccines with India?" She tagged President Biden and top White House officials.
Priyanka Chopra, truly a global citizen, has lived on two continents the last couple of years; she's spent part of her time in USA - she's married to American singer Nick Jonas - and all of last year in London, where she has been filming and working on several projects. She is one of many celebrities who have been using their massive social media reach to amplify appeals for help from COVID patients and share information on medical resources.