Selena Gomez has drawn ire from some New Zealanders after tweeting at Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern asking for her commitment to help ensure people around the world can access the COVID-19 vaccine.
The former Disney star tweeted a myriad of world leaders and pharmaceutical companies with pleas to do their bit to provide coronavirus vaccines to disadvantaged countries in need.
Along with appealing to French President Emmanuel Macron, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and various other government leaders, Gomez called on Ardern, asking her: "Can we count on your support too?"
"You've helped New Zealand fight COVID-19 domestically. Now we need your help globally to ensure everyone can access the vaccine," she wrote.
At the time of writing, Ardern had not replied to the 28-year-old pop star, but many Kiwis were quick to respond, with many pointing out Ardern had already taken action to ensure the vaccine would be available to New Zealand's overseas neighbours.
"Selena. Our PM has this covered. Our govt has arranged vaccines for Pacific nations," one irate tweet read.
"She's already doing it," said another.
"Yo girl! You do know that @jacindaardern and her government have already purchased enough vaccines to cover not only New Zealand but our Pacific neighbours?" a third asked, using the hashtag #onestepahead.
Another Twitter user suggested Gomez should "get her facts in order" before posting to her 65 million followers.
"In addition to the replies from NZ about providing for Pacific Nations, our PM, Jacinda Ardern has donated enough vaccine for 800,000 people via COVAX. Acknowledge this please," they wrote.
Another sarcastic comment read: "'Hey NZ, do your part, help Spain!' - pop singer with $100M."
New Zealand first announced their involvement with COVAX in July 2020. The global facility, which includes World Health Organisation, Unicef, and the World Bank, aims to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world.
In response to Gomez, several people referenced a quote from March of this year Ardern said with reference to providing vaccines to the Pacific: "No countries are safe until all countries are safe."
