Real-Life Dracula’s Castle Transformed Into COVID-19 Vaccination Center
Would you get your COVID-19 vaccine at Dracula's castle?
Bran Castle, the real-life 14th-century castle that supposedly served as the inspiration for Bram Stoker's classic horror novel, Dracula, is now home to a vaccination center that is hosting free vaccination marathons every weekend in May.
Those who get vaccinated on-site will receive a novelty "vaccination diploma" that features an illustration of a medical worker with vampire fangs holding a needle.
“Besides the diploma, people benefit with free entry to the (castle’s) torture rooms, which have 52 medieval torture instruments,” Alexandru Priscu, the marketing manager at Bran Castle, told The Associated Press.
For anyone interested in getting their vaccination at the historic site, no appointment is needed, and the site currently only offers the Pfizer vaccine. (Unfortunately, only Romanian citizens are eligible to receive the vaccination on-site.) The Pfizer-BoiNTech vaccine requires two doses, so a second visit will be required.
"The idea... was to show how people got jabbed 500-600 years ago in Europe," Priscu told Reuters news agency per BBC.
To promote the event, medical personnel donned special vampire face masks and scrubs featuring insignia to give out the vaccine inside the castle grounds.
Watch how the process works, below.
During the promotion's first weekend, over 400 people were vaccinated on-site. The new vaccination site is part of the Romanian government's initiative to vaccinate 5 million citizens by June 1.
According to John's Hopkins University, the country recorded more than one million positive COVID-19 cases, with over 29,000 deaths, since the coronavirus pandemic began. The hope is that the historic location will increase vaccination numbers, and so far, it seems to be piquing interest!