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Vaccine hero Dolly Parton now fully vaccinated with second Moderna shot

The country singer joked that she received a "second dose of her own medicine."

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
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Gael Cooper
2 min read

Singer Dolly Parton is now fully vaccinated. The country music legend got her second and final shot of the coronavirus vaccine on Friday, and as she did with her first shot, she shared the proof online. Parton tweeted two photos of her shot process, including one where she posed with the medical personnel who helped her.

She captioned the images, "Dolly gets a (second) dose of her own medicine," and then wrote, "Thank you Dr. Naji Abumrad, Andrea Calhoun and Heather O'Dell of (Vanderbilt University Medical Center)."

When Parton received her first shot in March, she tweaked one of her most famous hit songs for the occasion. The singer shared a video of her shot, and also sang a new version of her 1973 song, Jolene.

Instead of singing, "Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene / I'm begging of you, please don't take my man /Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene /Please don't take him just because you can," Parton gave the lyrics a modern twist: "Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine / I'm begging of you, please don't hesitate / Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine / 'Cause once you're dead, that's a bit too late."

Parton fittingly received the Moderna vaccine. She donated $1 million in April of last year to help fund the research that made that vaccine possible. Her longtime friend, Dr. Naji Abumrad of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, administered Parton's shot.

"That didn't hurt!" Parton said after the first shot, which she received while wearing a dark blue mask and matching long-sleeved top with convenient holes in the arms. "I did it, I did it!" she said with a laugh afterwards.

The singer, 75, said she got the shot because, "I'm old enough to get it, and I'm smart enough to get it." She also encouraged viewers to follow her lead.

"I just want to say to all of your cowards out there, don't be such a chickensquat, get out there and get your shot," Parton said with a laugh.