Prince Harry blames vaccine hesitancy on 'those who peddle in lies and fear'

Prince Harry is calling out misinformation about COVID-19 vaccination, placing blame on those who "peddle in lies" for creating vaccine hesitancy.

The Duke of Sussex delivered remarks at the British GQ Men Of The Year Awards, calling for increased access to COVID-19 vaccines globally while taking aim at online misinformation about the vaccines, per The Hollywood Reporter.

"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, is dividing communities and eroding trust," he said. "This is a system we need to break if we are to overcome COVID-19 and the risk of new variants."

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Harry also said that while the number of COVID-19 vaccines that have been administered around the world "sounds like a major accomplishment," there's still a "huge disparity between who can and cannot access the vaccine," calling for steps to "address this imbalance."

"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," he said, per the Reporter. "That's a common refrain my wife and I have heard in convenings with vaccine experts, heads of industry, community advocates and global leaders."

Harry previously called for "fair distribution" of COVID-19 vaccines around the world at Global Citizen's COVID-19 vaccine concert in May. He has also been vocal in speaking out against online misinformation, in March joining a "six-month study on the state of American misinformation and disinformation." At the time, Harry said he looked forward to "working on a solution-oriented approach to the information disorder crisis."