Dolly Parton Helped Create The COVID-19 Vaccine

Image: thekrisharris via Flickr

The Dolly Parton COVID-19 Research Fund is a thing that actually exists, as Dolly shelled out $1 million of her own money in April to help find a cure. Dolly’s bet on a team of scientists at Vanderbilt University paid off with a jackpot, as CNN reports that Dolly Parton’s money helped fund the COVID-19 vaccine.

ok i trust the vaccine now https://t.co/aID2Pjyccn

— kathbarbadoro (@kathbarbadoro) November 18, 2020

You can see right here in the New England Journal of Medicine that funding for this vaccine came, in part, from “the Dolly Parton COVID-19 Research Fund (Vanderbilt University Medical Center).” This vaccine decribed in that paper is the same Moderna vaccine that early research indicates is 94.5% effective against COVID-19.

In April, Dolly Parton spoke at a #TIME100Talks about her $1 million donation to Vanderbilt University Medical Center — which helped fund Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/OBF8nywugE

— TIME (@TIME) November 17, 2020

Dolly was interviewed by Time magazine at the time of the donation, as seen above. “My little niece, Hannah Dennison, many years ago had leukemia. And she survived it because the great care that they gave her [at Vanderbilt],” she said. “When this came up, I just thought it was the thing to do. I was just following my heart.”

“@DollyParton partly funded vaccine research…” pic.twitter.com/FWSi0SoyHX

— Nadie Rae (@nadie_rae) November 19, 2020

Dolly made the donation in April.  “Dolly’s amazing generosity is a source of inspiration and will have a lasting impact on the battle against COVID-19,” Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Dr. Jeff Balser said at the time. “She cares so much about helping others and we are very grateful for her ongoing support. These funds will help us complete promising research that can benefit millions in their battle with the virus.” 

Shakespeare may have written King Lear during the plague, but Dolly Parton funded a covid vaccine, dropped a Christmas album and a Christmas special.

— Lyz Lenz (@lyzl) November 17, 2020

And in an excellent bit of holiday gift timing, Dolly’s Chronicle Books memoir Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics was just released Tuesday.