Dolly Parton fans joke that singer has ‘cured coronavirus’ after donating $1m to scientists working on Moderna vaccine trials

© Provided by The Independent

Dolly Parton fans have joked that the singer has “cured coronavirus” after donating $1m (£756,000) to scientists working on a promising-looking vaccine.

On Monday (17 November) it was announced that US biotech firm Moderna had produced a coronavirus vaccine shown to be nearly 95 per cent effective in preventing symptomatic Covid-19 in early trial stages.

However, a number of fans made the connection between the news and Parton, who in April donated $1m (£756,000) to the research team at Vanderbilt University who were involved in the Moderna trials.

“Dolly Parton donated $1 million to Vanderbilt for vaccine research. Vanderbilt researchers were involved in the Moderna trials. Ergo, Dolly Parton helped cure Covid,” one fan joked.

Another said that the connection was “further proof that @DollyParton is the greatest source of good in the world these days”.

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“Dolly Parton funded the vaccine and that’s the first thing that has made any sense in a long time,” one fan joked.

“The fact that Dolly Parton was involved in funding the research for the Moderna vaccine that’s proven to be 95% effective is one of the best plot twists the writers of 2020 have given us,” another tweeted.

Speaking about her decision to donate to Vanderbilt earlier this year, Parton wrote: “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.”