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Madonna has donated $1 million to help fund research into creating a coronavirus vaccine.
The money will go to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which launched its plan to create a vaccine earlier this week.
In a video posted to her Instagram, the singer addressed her own struggles with changing her lifestyle amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and announced her support for the foundation.
“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…” she wrote.
“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.”
@gatesfoundation #wellcome @mastercard @chanzuckerberginitiative 
by @ncrfilmsAnnouncing the foundation’s new initiative this week, Bill Gates told The Daily Show’s 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 video shared that saw her lying in a bath full of rose petals.
“That’s the thing about Covid-19,” she wrote. “It doesn’t care about how rich you are, how famous you are, how funny you are, how smart you are, where you live, how old you are, what amazing stories you can tell,” she begins, before adding that “it’s the great equaliser and what’s terrible about it is what’s great about it.”
Madonna is the latest musical megastar to offer a donation to help fight the pandemic. Last month, Rihanna pledged $5 million in aid including $700k to go towards the purchase of ventilators for her home country of Barbados.
Madonna cancelled a number of dates on her ‘Madame X’ tour last month due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Reviewing the London date of the tour at the Palladium, NME wrote: “It’s strange to witness the Queen of Pop in this light. As disorientating as it feels, the tension of seeing an untouchable legend letting her guard down makes this show incredibly special.
“It also feels like a brave move from an artist who could do just about anything. Then again, risk-taking and reinvention is what makes Madonna an icon.”
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