Berlin nightclubs launch vaccination week

A Berlin nightclub launched a week-long vaccination campaign on Monday, making good on a pledge made last year by the German capital’s nightlife venues.

Sage Beach began vaccinating, and other venues would be following suit over the course of the week, Lutz Leichsenring, spokesman for the club committee, said.

The campaign had “started well,” Leichsenring said, with half the 4,500 openings taken up by online reservation.

Dancing is currently banned in Berlin. The capital’s clubs have repeatedly issued calls for the population to get their shots and organized a “long vaccination night” during the summer, with music played in the vaccination centres.

“We want to get through the pandemic together and make our contribution,” Leichsenring said. At least three other clubs are joining the campaign, in which appointments can be booked online, whether for first, second or booster vaccinations.

Many Berlin clubs have closed their doors, taking the view that the ban on dancing has made paying business impossible.

There was considerable unhappiness at government policy, Leichsenring said. He noted that the clubs performed an important social function. The committee has previously called for dancing to be allowed for patrons who have undergone a recent test for the coronavirus.

According to the official disease control body, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), 71.8 per cent of the population of the city-state of Berlin have received two shots of vaccine, in line with the national figure of 71.2 per cent.