
Dolly Parton might have just saved the world.
Apart from wooing the world with her awesome songs, she donated a whopping sum to coronavirus vaccine research. Now that has helped with the development of the Moderna vaccine, which shows 95% protection from the virus.
Dolly Parton gave $1m as donation. It all happened in April when she donated £800,000 to research after her friend 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” in the search for a cure for the virus.
Abumrad and Parton became friends in 2014 after the singer was involved in a car accident and treated at Vanderbilt.
As for the vaccine, Moderna has said it could potentially produce 1bn 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).
The Dolly Parton Covid-19 research fund is the latest example of Parton’s well-known philanthropy. Her Imagination Library gifts free books to children from birth until starting school in participating areas.