Dolly Parton Is Helping Fund a COVID-19 Vaccine

It has been revealed that Dolly Parton has played a key role in funding research that aided the development of a major vaccine for COVID-19.

On Monday (November 16) it was announced that US company Moderna had produced a coronavirus vaccine that shows to be nearly 95 percent effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in early trial stages. This follows the announcement of a separate immunization from pharmaceutical firm Pfizer last week.

A new article in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that the country diva made a generous $1m donation to aid research through the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Footnotes in the journal show the funding came specifically from the "Dolly Parton COVID-19 Research Fund."

In April, Parton started making donations towards research after Dr. Naji Abumrad of the Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee told her that they were making “some exciting advancements.” Abumrad and Parton are said to have became friends in 2014 after the singer was involved in a car accident and treated at Vanderbilt.

The 74-year-old singer has also supported convalescent plasma study at Vanderbilt – treating infected people with the plasma of others carrying antibodies against the virus – as well as the development of several research papers pertaining to the virus.

Moderna says it could potentially produce 1 billion doses of the vaccine by the end of 2021 and is applying for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Here is how Twitter users reacted to the “Jolene” singer assisting the cure for Corona:

Parton has yet to make a statement about her donation and research fund.