Image: @dollyparton | Instagram
Donations worth $1m (£800,000) from the music icon have helped support the vaccine trails at Moderna
In April this year, Dolly Parton announced that she was donating $1m (£800,000) in honour of her friend Dr Naji Abumrad to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville after they told her that the institute was making “some exciting advancements” in the search for a cure for the novel coronavirus.
On Monday, US-based biotech company Moderna announced that results from the early trails of their Covid-19 vaccine showed 95% efficacy. The Vanderbilt University Medical Center was one of the trial sites for this Moderna vaccine.
In a public statement, Jeff Balser, the President and CEO of Vanderbilt University Medical Center said: “Dolly’s amazing generosity is a source of inspiration and will have a lasting impact on the battle against COVID-19. 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.”
The icon’s donations are also being used to fund the research on convalescent plasma to treat infected people with the plasma of those already recovered and carrying antibodies for the virus.
Since the revelation of Dolly’s contribution, her fans have taken on the internet calling her a champion of ‘ethical, responsible and humanitarian inspiration’. Celebrating her generosity, fans are also calling her the ‘saviour of the world’.
In an interview with BBC One, Parton said: “I’m sure many millions of dollars from many people went into that but I just felt so proud to have been part of that little seed money that will hopefully grow into something great and help to heal this world. I’m a very proud girl today to know I had anything at all to do with something that’s going to help us through this crazy pandemic.”
Following up with the news of developing a vaccine, Moderna has also said that it could potentially produce 1bn doses of the vaccine by the end of 2021. The United Kingdom has already secured an initial 5m doses of the vaccine.
Words by: Shravani Chavan | Subbing: Monika Laimaite
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