- Dolly Parton hasn't yet received the COVID-19 vaccine that she helped to fund, explaining she doesn't want to "jump the line."
- Parton said she'll get inoculated on camera to help encourage others to get the vaccine.
- She discussed her $1 million donation to vaccine research, saying, "I get a lot more credit than I deserve I think, but I was just happy to be a part of any and all of that."
In case you weren't aware, real life angel Dolly Parton donated $1 million to COVID-19 research in April 2020—and said donation was subsequently used to partially fund the Moderna vaccine, as CNN reported in November. But Parton hasn't yet received the vaccine herself, she told the Associated Press, explaining she doesn't want to "jump the line."
"I’m not going to get mine until some more people get theirs. I don’t want it to look like I’m jumping the line just because I donated money. I’m very funny about that," Parton said. "I’m going to get mine though, but I’m going to wait. I’m at the age where I could have gotten mine legally last week. I turned 75. I was going to do it on my birthday, and I thought, 'Nah, don’t do that. You’ll look like you’re just doing a show.'"
"I’m going to get it. When I get it, I’ll probably do it on camera so people will know and I’ll tell them the truth, if I have symptoms and all that," Parton continued. "Hopefully it’ll encourage people. I’m not going to jump the line just because I could."
In typical Dolly fashion, the country legend played down her role in the Moderna vaccine's development. " I’m a person of faith and I pray all the time that God will lead me into the right direction and let me know what to do. When the pandemic first hit, that was my first thought, "I need to do something to try to help find a vaccination,'" she said.
"I just did some research with the people at Vanderbilt (University) — they’re wonderful people, they’ve been so good through the years to my people in times of illness and all that. I just asked if I could donate a million dollars to the research for a vaccine," Parton continued.
"I get a lot more credit than I deserve, I think, but I was just happy to be a part of any and all of that."
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Emily Dixon is a British journalist who’s contributed to CNN, Teen Vogue, Time, Glamour, The Guardian, Wonderland, The Big Roundtable, Bust, and more, on everything from mental health to fashion to political activism to feminist zine collectives. She’s also a committed Beyoncé, Kacey Musgraves, and Tracee Ellis Ross fan, an enthusiastic but terrible ballet dancer, and a proud Geordie lass.
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