London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Aug 20, 2026

Dolly Parton Received A Dose Of The COVID Vaccine She Helped To Fund

Dolly Parton Received A Dose Of The COVID Vaccine She Helped To Fund

"Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaciiiiiiine," she sang. "I'm begging of you, please don't hesitate."


Dolly Parton — singer, actor, icon, and pharmaceutical benefactor — received on Tuesday her first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine she helped to fund.

"I'm so excited. I've been waiting a while," the singer told fans in a video posted to Twitter from Nashville's Vanderbilt University. "I'm old enough to get it, and I'm smart enough to get it."

Last year, Parton's fund donated $1 million for research to develop the vaccine.

"When I donated the money to the COVID fund, I just wanted it to do good and evidently it is," she said when Moderna's first highly successful results were revealed in November.

But despite her donation, Parton was adamant that she had to wait in line until it was her time to receive a dose.

"I don't want it to look like I'm jumping the line just because I donated money," she said last month.

Well, her time finally came on Tuesday, and she was in a singing mood as she rewrote her classic song "Jolene" in a bid to encourage fans to follow suit.

"Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaciiiiiiine, I'm begging of you please don't hesitate," she sang. "Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaciiiiiiine, because once you're dead, then that's a bit too late."


Parton received her dose from Naji Abumrad, a professor of surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who took a couple of minutes to administer it.

"It didn't take this long to film 9 to 5," Parton joked.

More than 78 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the US so far.

President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that there would be enough supplies of the shots by the end of May — two months earlier than previously expected — because pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. has agreed to help produce supplies of competitor Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine.

Parton said having enough people vaccinated would eventually help life return to normal.

"That would be a great shot in the arm, wouldn't it?" she joked.

As for anyone hesitating, Parton had a simple message: "Don't be such a chicken squat."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Inflation Rises to 2.9% as Energy Bills Jump
A Sleepless Night on Wall Street: Nasdaq to Begin Nearly Round-the-Clock Trading
"The First in the World": 69-Year-Old Protested Artificial Intelligence—and Went to Jail
Ukraine's Ousted Defence Minister Calls for Wartime Presidential Election
UK Marks Ten Years of Night Tube as London Weekend Usage Exceeds Eighty-One Thousand Journeys a Night
Met Office Issues Thunderstorm Warnings Across Northern Ireland Over Flash-Flood Risk
Frasers Group Raises Stake in Hugo Boss to Nearly Forty-Eight Percent
Scottish Clyde Marine Pilots Prepare for Strike That Could Disrupt Glasgow and Greenock Shipping
Twenty Passengers Injured After Southern Train Derails Near Lewes in East Sussex
Government Rules Out High-Speed Rail Revival Between West Midlands and Northern England
West Midlands Bus Network Returns to Public Ownership in Twenty-Four Million Pound Deal
UK Competition Watchdog Targets Trainline, Virgin Atlantic and RED Driving School Over Drip Pricing
Northern Ireland Health Minister Mike Nesbitt Resigns After Dispute Over Causeway Hospital Surgery Closure
UK Long-Term Government Bond Yields Rise to Five Point Eight Five Percent as Borrowing Costs Surge
UK Government Overhauls Planning Rules to Push Housing Development Near Major Transport Hubs
UK Health and Economic Pressures Highlight Wider Strain on Households and Public Finances
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham Reaffirms Full Support for Ukraine Amid Russian Warnings
Sainsbury’s Suspends Live Facial Recognition at London Store After Customer Misidentified
Artists Urge UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham to Reject New North Sea Oil and Gas Licensing
UK Government Awards Four Hundred and Fifty-Six Million Pound Civil Service Training Contract to EY and KPMG
Global Government Bond Yields Rise as Middle East Conflict Fuels Inflation Concerns
British Housing Market Records Weakest August Since Two Thousand and Eighteen as Asking Prices Fall
UK Announces New Sanctions on Russian Shadow Fleet and Financial Institutions
UK Approves Virgin Rail Group Services Through Channel Tunnel, Challenging Eurostar
UK Government Backs Three Hundred Million Pound AI Investment Zone in North Lanarkshire
UK Declares National Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Imported Eggs
China’s Lifelike AI Humans Move From Livestreams Into Real-World Service Roles
UK Government Rolls Out £5.8 Billion Regional Investment Programme to Revive High Streets
AstraZeneca Ends Late-Stage Lung Cancer Trial After Data Shows No Survival Benefit
London Stocks Fall for Sixth Day as Bond Yields and Middle East Tensions Weigh on Markets
UK Government Rewrites Planning Rules to Accelerate Housing Near Transport Hubs
UK Wildfires Spread Across Southern England as Met Office Issues Severe Heat Warnings
British Doctors Warn Cancer Care Is at Risk as Hospitals Reject More Than a Quarter of Urgent Referrals
UK Hospitals Suspend Critical Care as Extreme Heat Exposes Infrastructure Failures
Sarah Ferguson Reportedly Retreats to Late Ex-Boyfriend's Swiss Chalet
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
Thieves Steal Antonello da Messina Renaissance Masterpieces From Sicilian Museum
Better.com Founder Who Fired 900 Employees on Zoom Is Ousted as CEO
Italian Speed Camera Issues Nearly 32,000 Fines in 10 Weeks, Worth More Than €3 Million
AI Manager at San Francisco Store Recommends Firing Human Employee
Google Launches Pixel 11 With Gemini AI at the Center of Its Hardware Strategy
Campaigners Press Government to Strengthen Rights for Four Million Gig Workers
Government Considers Higher Private Rents to Spread Asylum Accommodation Across UK
UK Moves to Protect Historic Pubs From Conversion Into Housing and Offices
Nigel Farage Wins Clacton By-Election to Return to House of Commons
British Manufacturers Report Rising Cybersecurity Threats Across Industrial Supply Chains
Royal Navy Increases Monitoring of Russian Ships in UK Waters by 25 Percent
England Adds More Than 350 Medical Training Posts to Strengthen NHS Capacity
NHS Waiting Lists Over 52 Weeks Rise by More Than 11,000 Patients
Brent Crude Near $88 Raises Fresh UK Energy Cost Concerns
×