Dolly Parton Shares The Vaccine News Fans Have Been Waiting For
It's official: National treasure Dolly Parton has received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The 75-year-old country music legend shared the news on her Twitter account on Tuesday, March 2. Parton first posted a photo of herself, looking glamorous as always in a sparkly dark purple number with a matching mask and a beautiful necklace, as a doctor administered the vaccine.
"Dolly gets a dose of her own medicine," she wrote, and tagged Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Twitter account.
In a follow-up Tweet, Parton shared a video with more information about her own vaccination and a message to her fans urging them to get the shot as soon as possible.
"I'm very happy that I'm gonna get my Moderna shot today," Parton told viewers. "I want to tell everybody that you should get out there and do it, too. I even changed one of my songs to fit the occasion."
Parton broke out into song
Singing to the tune of her famous song "Jolene," Parton adjusted the lyrics to encourage everyone to get vaccinated.
"Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine / I'm begging of you, please don't hesitate," she sang. "Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine / 'Cause once you're dead then that's a bit too late."
All jokes aside, Parton said she's "dead serious" about the vaccine.
"I just wanted to encourage everybody, because the sooner we get to feeling better, the sooner we are gonna get back to being normal," she said. And Parton didn't exactly mince words when it was time to address anti-vaxxers.
"I just want to say to all you cowards out there, don't be such a chicken squat," she said. "Get out there and get your shot!"
The video showed Parton being given her shot by a doctor and longtime friend of hers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Afterward she noted that it didn't hurt, and concluded the video by excitedly stating, "I did it!"
As reported by CBS8, Parton helped fund the development of the Moderna vaccine, and she also made a one million dollar donation to Vanderbilt to go toward vaccine and COVID research.