Dolly Parton credited with helping to ‘cure coronavirus’ after donating $1m to scientists working on Moderna vaccine trials

Singer made donation to Vanderbilt University, who were involved in trials for a vaccine found to be 94 per cent effective

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

This week, US company Moderna announced its coronavirus vaccine may be 94.5 per cent effective against Covid-19, and Parton is namechecked in the preliminary report.

Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the report states that the work was supported by the “Dolly Parton Covid-19 Research Fund (Vanderbilt University Medical Center)” amongst other groups.

“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 commented.

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

“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 per cent 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 University’s research earlier in April, 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.”