The beloved country singer Dolly Parton seldom disappoints, from her proclamation during an interview with Billboard that “of course Black lives matter” to her nonprofit effort mailing free books to children each month. Now she’s out here helping fund a potentially life-saving coronavirus vaccine. Following the biotechnology company Moderna's announcement that its coronavirus vaccine was reporting 94.5% efficacy in trials so far, the company also detailed a plan to obtain 20 million doses, enough for 10 million people, by the end of 2020. And none other than the “Jolene” crooner herself is listed as a benefactor on Moderna's preliminary report.
“Supported ... by the Dolly Parton COVID-19 Research Fund [Vanderbilt University Medical Center],” authors state in the report.
Parton said she would be doing such work in an Instagram post April 1. “My longtime friend Dr. Naji Abumrad, who's been involved in research at Vanderbilt for many years, informed me that they were making some exciting advancements towards research of the coronavirus for a cure," she wrote. "I am making a donation of $1 million to Vanderbilt towards that research and to encourage people that can afford it to make donations."
Then she actually made the donation, and social media users can’t seem to get enough of the news. Dolly Parton was a trending topic Tuesday following Twitter user Jonathan Katz’s tweet Monday: "Why are we not discussing the fact that the vaccine with the good news this morning was partly funded by Dolly Parton? Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vacciiiiiiiiiiiiiine”
Writer Amee Vanderpool tweeted: "Moderna's 94.5% effective vaccine, essentially means @DollyParton cured coronavirus." Author Lyz Lenz tweeted: “Shakespeare may have written King Lear during the plague, but Dolly Parton funded a covid vaccine, dropped a Christmas album and a Christmas special.” That she did. Yes, that she did, and humbly.
“When I donated the money to the Covid fund I just wanted it to do good and evidently, it is! Let’s just hope we can find a cure real soon,” Parton tweeted Tuesday.
RELATED: Dolly Parton says ‘of course’ she supports Black Lives Matter
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