Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vacciiiiiiine, Dolly Parton would be begging to be included in your trial, but she’s an angel and would never ask that. So we will instead, for this very reason: It’s been discovered that the country icon was one of the major funders for Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine, which has proved to be nearly 95 percent effective in early data. (Suck it, Pfizer, with your measly and Kid Rockian 90 percent.) Per The Guardian and confirmed by The New England Journal of Medicine, the Dolly Parton COVID-19 Research Fund donated a whopping $1 million to the Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology, and Inflammation in Nashville, Tennessee. Parton befriended one of the institute’s doctors years ago while seeking treatment after a car accident, and initiated her donation earlier this year after being told “some exciting advancements†were being made with vaccines. Her donation is also supporting a convalescent-plasma study, and, presumably, Christmas magic.
During a Today interview shortly after the news gained viral traction, Parton confirmed, ever so humbly, that she indeed made the donation through her research fund. “I’m just happy that anything I do can help somebody else,†she said. “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 find a cure real soon.†Again, thank you to Moderna for working more than nine to five every day.
This article had been updated with additional comments from Parton.