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Madonna donates $1m to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help create coronavirus vaccine

Madonna in London on 15 September 2016: BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images
Madonna in London on 15 September 2016: BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images

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.

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