Barcelona Agrees To Use Camp Nou As Mass Vaccination Centre
Barcelona football club has announced that the Camp Nou stadium will serve as a mass vaccination centre to help combat COVID-19.
Catalan health minister Alba Verges and new FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta reached an agreement to adapt the stadium for mass vaccination during a meeting on 23rd March.
The football club announced: “Technical teams at FC Barcelona and the Ministry of Health will work on a plan to turn Camp Nou into a possible space for mass vaccination against COVID-19 in the coming weeks.”
Camp Nou will act as the sixth new inoculation point in Catalonia after five other venues were recently chosen as vaccination centres.
The five other vaccination points have been named as the Fira de Barcelona trade fair institution, the Fira de Cornella events centre, the Pista de Sabadell arena, the Onze de Setembre pavilion, and the Fira de Girona exhibition centre.
The Catalan government also considered using other famous Barcelona spots such as La Sagrada Familia and the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC) to encourage citizens to be vaccinated, although these were not confirmed.
In serving as a mass vaccination centre, Camp Nou joins other famous stadiums such as the Nemesio Diez Stadium in the Mexican city of Toluca, home of Deportivo Toluca Futbol Club, and the Yankee Stadium in New York, home field for the New York Yankees.
Local media said another 500 alternative vaccination points will be placed around the city in order to avoid crowding at the primary centres.