US

Saint Dolly Parton gives her most iconic hit a vaccine rewrite while getting COVID jab she helped fund

Dolly Parton coronavirus vaccine

Dolly Parton got the first dose of the Moderna vaccine and urged others to get vaccinated against COVID-19. (Twitter/Screenshot)

The entire world can rest easy, because Dolly Parton has finally gotten the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

The gay icon turned up to Vanderbilt Health in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday (2 March) to get the first dose of the Moderna vaccine.

The occasion was particularly momentous because Parton famously donated $1 million to COVID-19 vaccine research – and the funds ultimately helped get the Moderna vaccine over the line.

Parton shared a photo of herself getting the jab on Twitter along with the caption: “Dolly gets a dose of her own medicine.”

Shortly afterwards, the country music legend shared a video that showed her getting the jab. Parton also addressed the public, urging them not to be “cowards” and to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

“Well hey, it’s me, I’m finally going to get my vaccine. I’m so excited. I’ve been waiting a while,” Parton says in the video.

“I’m old enough to get it, and I’m smart enough to get it,” the 75-year-old adds.

“So I’m very happy that I’m going to get my Moderna shot today and I wanted to tell everybody, I think you should get out there and do it too.”

Dolly Parton is ‘dead serious’ about getting vaccinated against COVID-19

In true Dolly Parton fashion, the singer explains that she “changed” one of her songs to “fit the occasion”, before launching into a rousing alternative version of “Jolene”.

“Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, I’m begging of you please don’t hesitate,” Parton sings.

“Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, cause once you’re dead then that’s a bit too late.”

Parton continues: “I know I’m trying to be funny now, but I’m dead serious about the vaccine. I think we all want to get back to normal – whatever that is – and that would be a great shot in the arm, wouldn’t it, if we could get back to that?

“But anyhow I just wanted to encourage everybody, cause the sooner we get to feeling better, the sooner we are going to get back to being normal. So I just want to say to all you cowards out there: don’t be such a chicken squat, get out there and get shot.”

The icon puts on a face mask – which, of course, matches perfectly with her outfit – before calling in the longtime friend, Dr Naji Abumrad, to administer the vaccine.

As Dr Abumrad gets the vaccine ready, Dolly Parton jokes: “Well, it didn’t take this long to field ‘9-5’.”

After getting the jab, Dolly declares: “That didn’t hurt, its just stung a little bit, but that was from the alcohol pad.”

The truly heartwarming video ends with Dolly pulling her mask down and excitedly shouting at the camera: “Hey, I did it, I did it!”

People across the world rejoiced as news spread that Dolly Parton had received the first dose of the Moderna vaccine, meaning that soon enough, she will be protected from the harmful effects of COVID-19.

It was revealed in November 2020 that Dolly Parton had part-funded the Moderna vaccine with a massive donation to the Vanderbilt University Medical Centre.

The centre was one of several key players and institutions in public health that have supported Moderna’s months-long bid to contain COVID-19.

At the start of the pandemic, Abumrad showed Parton the research the university was doing on developing a vaccine, and she wanted to help.

Her intervention is just one of the reasons vaccines are now being rolled out across the world in an effort to bring the coronavirus pandemic to an end, which has so far claimed more than 2.5 million lives worldwide.

 

More:
Register to save articles and more. It'll only take a minute and it's free.
JOIN US TODAY!