Madonna donates $1m to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help create coronavirus vaccine
Madonna has donated £1m to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in order to help create a vaccine for coronavirus.
Earlier this week, the Microsoft co-founder announced his plans to fund seven different research labs to find a cure for the disease.
In a video on Instagram, Madonna told fans: “Individually and globally we are obviously living in a state of emergency, I must admit it took me time to accept and process and modify my own lifestyle...
“I'm joining the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation effort to find a drug that will prevent or treat Covid-19...
"We need this to protect our health workers, the most vulnerable, and all of our friends and families.”
Gates recently told The Daily Show host Trever Noah: “Because our foundation has such deep expertise in infectious diseases, we've thought about the epidemic, we did fund some things to be more prepared, like a vaccine effort. Our early money can accelerate things.”
Last month, Madonna called coronavirus “the great equaliser” in a sombre nude video taken in the bath.
In the clip, the pop icon can be seen sitting in a milky bathtub filled with rose petals, while she remarks that the pandemic doesn’t care if you are rich or poor.
Read more
When can we really expect coronavirus to end?
Everything you need to know on supermarket delivery slots
The dirty truth about washing your hands
Which countries around the world has coronavirus spread to?
Listen to the latest episode of The Independent Coronavirus Podcast