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Bayern to offer vaccinations at Allianz Arena

Bayern Munich has become the latest German Bundesliga football club to offer visitors to its stadium the opportunity to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

For today’s (Wednesday’s) friendly against fellow Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach, as well as the official team presentation on August 4, there will be a mobile vaccination bus on the walkway outside the Allianz Arena, for which no appointment is necessary.

At the match against Mönchengladbach, those wanting a vaccine must be aged over 18. On the day of the official team presentation, which includes open training sessions and various activities, vaccinations will also be open to children aged 12 and above without pre-existing conditions, with the permission of their legal guardian.

Bayern is undertaking the vaccination drive in association with the City of Munich. Jan-Christian Dreesen, deputy CEO of Bayern Munich, said: “We are pleased that FC Bayern can support the vaccination offering from the City of Munich.

“Our society will only overcome this pandemic with high vaccine uptake, and only then can we all quickly return to our old lives. It’s nice that there’s this low-threshold option for our fans, and we hope that many take up the offer.”

Munich Mayor, Dieter Reiter, added: “The more people we reach and the more people are vaccinated, the sooner we’ll overcome this pandemic and, for example, be able to experience matches in front of full stadiums again.”

Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt last week announced that they would use their stadia as COVID-19 vaccination centres, with perks on offer for fans who get jabbed. The vaccination campaigns come as fans prepare to return to Bundesliga stadia.

The German Football League (DFL) this month announced that away fans will be able to head back to Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga stadia from the third round of games in the forthcoming 2021-22 season.

The DFL said that as long as spectator capacity is still subject to legal restrictions, 5% of the tickets for each game are to be reserved for away fans. Once restrictions are lifted completely, there will be an automatic return to the intended allocation of 10%.

The DFL said it had chosen the third round of games in order to allow all clubs to have the experience of at least one home game with fans back in their stadium. Last season’s matches were almost entirely played without spectators, with away fans banned completely following a joint decision taken by clubs amid COVID-19.

The decision came after it was announced earlier this month that a maximum of 25,000 fans are set to be permitted to enter venues for major sporting events in Germany, under new guidelines issued ahead of the start of the 2021-22 Bundesliga season.

The announcement followed a meeting of officials from Germany’s 16 states and is designed to regulate sports events that attract spectator numbers in excess of 5,000. The new Bundesliga season is due to commence on August 13, as Bayern Munich travel to face Mönchengladbach at Borussia-Park.

It was announced this week that the season-opener will be played in front of 23,000 fans at Borussia-Park.

Image: Wolfgang Manousek/CC BY 2.0/Edited for size