Priyanka Chopra urged everyone to help India fight a deadly second wave of the pandemic by donating to Covid-19 relief. She discussed the country's dire condition, in which hospitals are unable to treat patients. In addition, there is a severe shortage of oxygen and life-saving drugs.
In a video posted on Instagram, Priyanka said, “Why do we need to care? Why is it so urgent right now? I am sitting in London and hearing from my friends and family in India about how hospitals are at capacity, there are no rooms in ICUs, ambulances are too busy, oxygen supply is less, crematoriums having mass cremations because the volume of death is so much. India is my home and India is bleeding.”
“We, as a global community, need to care. And I'll tell you why we need to care - because unless everyone is safe, no one is safe. So, please use your resources and focus your energy on helping stop this pandemic. Please donate. I understand a lot of people must be angry and thinking about, 'Why are we in this place in the first place? Why is this happening?' We will address that but after we stop the urgency. Please donate and please use your resources as much as you can. India needs you,” she added.
The global icon also wrote in her Instagram post that she has set up a fundraiser with GiveIndia. “Whatever you can spare, truly makes a difference. Nearly 63 million people follow me on here, if even 100,000 of you donate $10, that’s $1 Million, and that’s huge. Your donation will go directly to healthcare physical infrastructure (including Covid care centers, Isolation centers, and oxygen generation plants), medical equipment, and vaccine support and mobilization,” she wrote.
Urging her followers to contribute towards the fundraiser, Priyanka said she and her husband, Nick Jonas, have already given to the cause and that they will continue to do so. She also mentioned how "heartening" it is to see so many people coming forward to help.
Priyanka has been quite vocal about India’s need for Covid-19 vaccination on an urgent basis. She had requested Covid-19 vaccines for India earlier this week, and had tweeted that the US had ordered: "more vaccines than required." When a Twitter user drew her attention to the shortage of hospital beds and oxygen supplies and asked her to ‘shift (her) focus’ from vaccines, she replied, “Yes we need all of these tools to save lives. The only way to stop the spread of the virus in India is by building collective immunity through vaccines.”
