“Dolly Parton gave Vanderbilt University Medical Center $1 million in April 2020. The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority went on to commit $955 million to develop Moderna's mRNA-1273 [COVID vaccine] through licensure, and the federal government later added up to $1.525 billion to manufacture and deliver the first 100 million doses.
“Mark Denison, M.D., director of Vanderbilt's Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, told The New York Times in November 2020 that Parton's gift paid for what he called the ‘critical’ early stages of the work.”
https://www.medicaleconomics.com/view/dolly-parton-s-health-care-legacy-two-decades-of-giving
