Dolly Parton Helped Fund Potential ‘Game Changer’ Coronavirus Vaccine

Country music star Dolly Parton helped fund the Moderna coronavirus vaccine that the company recently announced is 94.5% effective in preventing infections from the virus, based on preliminary data.

Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel called the result a "game changer."

In a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientists thanks donors for funding — a list that included a number of funding grants from the National Institute of Health and at the bottom of the list, the Dolly Parton COVID-19 Research Fund at Vanderbilt University.

In April of 2020, Vanderbilt's student newspaper reported on Parton's $1 million donation to the university. Vanderbilt's medical school dean said at the time, "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."

In an April interview on the "Today" show, the singer was asked about her donation. She told the hosts that one of her friends is a research doctor at Vanderbilt who told her about the university's efforts to combat the coronavirus.

Parton said, "Vanderbilt's a wonderful hospital, they're so good to me and my family through the years and I like to donate to them every now and then. And I thought, 'Wow, what better time.'"

"Right now we need this, so anybody that can afford it, we've got more money than we've got time right now. So we need to find this treatment so I just felt like this was the time for me to open my heart and my hand and try to help with that."

Watch Parton's comments below:

https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/1245696412098138113?s=20

Moderna is not the only company to recently announce a potential COVID-19 vaccine and for many Americans, it feels like there might finally be an end to the pandemic in sight. Pfizer has also announced its experimental COVID-19 vaccine and they say they are starting a pilot delivery program.