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Dolly Parton Donates $1Million To Develop Coronavirus Vaccine

Dolly Parton Donates $1Million To Develop Coronavirus Vaccine

Dolly Parton made a huge donation to the Moderna coronavirus vaccine trials, in a bid of finding an end to the current pandemic.

Joanna Freedman

Joanna Freedman

We knew Dolly Parton was a living legend, but a contributor towards the cure for Covid-19? Well, now we really have heard everything.

Yep, the 'Jolene' hitmaker, 74, is being credited for 'curing coronavirus' by fans after it emerged that she has donated $1million (£800,000) to the researchers behind the Moderna vaccine - which is so far showing the most promising results globally.

And while saying Dolly herself 'cured Covid-19' may be a slight exaggeration, it's clear her money has made a real difference - alongside the hard work of the scientists working on the vaccine, and the generosity of other donors, of course.

In fact, preliminary trials have shown the vaccine offers a 95 per cent protection from the virus, with Moderna stating they could potentially produce as many as one billion doses of the vaccine by 2021.

Dolly donated when she heard promising things about the vaccine (
PA)

Dolly donated to the vaccine effort after her friend Dr Naji Abumrad, from the Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, informed her that they were seeing "some exciting advancements" in their hunt for a virus cure.

The singer and Dr Abumrad first formed a friendship in 2014, after she found herself in a car accident and treated by the surgeon.

She said of her donation earlier this year: "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.

"I am making a donation of $1 million to Vanderbilt towards that research and to encourage people that can afford it to make donations."

The Moderna vaccine trial is showing promising results (
PA)

As the news broke of the Moderna vaccine's promising trials, one fan of the Country music star dubbed it "further proof that @DollyParton is the greatest source of good in the world these days".

Meanwhile, another fan penned: "Of course Dolly Parton will be the one to cure COVID."

"Your daily reminder that Dolly Parton is one of the main funders of the #Moderna vaccine. Dolly will save us all," a third wrote.

As a fourth told followers: "In 2020, Dolly Parton's stood up for Black Lives Matter and put $1 million towards a Covid vaccine, and the year's not over yet.

"There's a strong argument that America should give up the whole 'democracy' thing as a bad idea now, and just make Dolly Parton queen of everything."

Featured Image Credit: PA