Dracula’s castle offers free COVID-19 vaccine to visitors

The operators of Dracula’s Castle are hoping to take a bite out of the coronavirus pandemic.

They’re offering free Pfizer BioNTech vaccines to anyone brave enough to visit Bran Castle in Transylvania, CNN reported.

Romania has over one million infections and almost 29,000 deaths, BBC News reported. The promotion is part of a government initiative to distribute the coronavirus vaccine with the overall goal of inoculating 10 million people country wide by September.

But there is a challenge: nearly half of Romanians are not interested in getting the shot, the BBC reported.

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The operators of the centuries-old castle-turned-tourist-destination announced the vaccination marathon on Facebook last week.

Visitors don’t need an appointment to get the vaccine every weekend this month. After the quick jab of the needle, the newly-vaccinated will get a diploma and if they decide to visit the castle, they can have free access to the medieval torture tools exhibit.

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The castle was built in 1388 near Brasov and looks like the castle described in Bram Stoker’s 1897 classic “Dracula.”

But castle operators remind visitors that Dracula is a work of fiction.

“Visitors to Bran Castle should make the distinction between the historic reality of Bran and the character of the Count in Bram Stoker’s novel,” they said, adding, “Dracula exists in the imagination,” CNN reported.

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But the book’s main character was based on the real-life person Prince Vlad Tepes “The Impaler,” and it is believed that the real prince was associated with the castle, the BBC reported.

For more on the history of the castle, including the connection to Stoker’s novel and the true Vlad Tepes, click here.

Cox Media Group