Dolly Parton trended on social media Tuesday after it was revealed that she donated $1 million to help Moderna develop the coronavirus vaccine it said this week was 94.5 percent effective.
CNBC reports: “Back in April, Parton donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s efforts to combat Covid-19, which included Moderna’s vaccine trial and clinical research. In the footnotes of the New England Journal of Medicine’s announcement about the Moderna vaccine’s results, ‘the Dolly Parton Covid-19 Research Fund’ is credited as one of the supporters. Parton’s contribution to Vanderbilt University Medical Center was made in honor of her longtime friend, Dr. Naji Abumrad, who is a professor of surgery. “[Abumrad] informed me that they were making some exciting advancements towards research of the coronavirus for a cure,” she wrote in an Instagram post in early April.”
