Country singer Stella Parton, sister of Dolly Parton, went viral online this week after criticizing how the government is rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine.
“If a little Hillbilly singer like my big sister Dolly can invest in the vaccine then why the hell can’t some of you old moldy politicians pitch in a few million yourselves?” wrote Stella, regarding Dolly’s recent donation to help fund research for Moderna’s vaccine. “I noticed you started getting vaccinated right away while people are starving and dying you aholes.”
The tweet, posted late on December 18, received more than 387,000 likes in only three days.
The country is divided when it comes to getting vaccinated since this is the first time in history that a vaccine have been created this quickly – in less than a year. Frontline healthcare workers were the first to receive the vaccine but politicians like Rudy Giuliani and Vice President Mike Pence have already received the first dose of the vaccine to improve public trust that the vaccine is safe to take.
Days after Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine was approved for emergency approval, Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine was also approved. Receiving two doses of the vaccine is necessary to ensure that it works as expected. The longterm effects of the vaccines are still unknown.
Stella’s comments to lawmakers come as Americans are struggling to make ends meet with millions of jobs affected by the pandemic. Congress is currently waiting to vote to pass a second relief bill this month.
Stella followed up her tweet to address televangelists. “I haven’t heard of one Televangelist donating one d–n cent to the research fund,” she wrote, “but they sure can fleece the flock and try to cast out demons when they are possessed themselves!”
More than 1.8 billion people have received the vaccine across the globe since last week.
