In normal times it’s the last place you’d want to get puncture marks on your skin.
But these are not normal times and people have been queuing to get inside the fabled Count Dracula’s castle in Transylvania to get their COVID jabs.
Imaginative officials came up with the idea of transforming the mythical mansion into a vaccination centre to help speed up Romania’s inoculation programme.
The government wants to vaccinate ten million people by September, but a recent survey showed Romanians were the least inclined to be vaccinated among the EU’s eastern members.
“Our main target audience are Romanian tourists who spend their weekend in the Bran region,” explains Alexandru Priscu, marketing director at Bran Castle.
“But people from the community are not excluded and the same goes for the castle’s employees.”
And it’s proving to be something of a shot in the arm for the local tourist industry.
Liviu Necula was intrigued by the offer of a vaccine.
“I came with my family to the castle, I saw the banner and I wanted to find out more,” he said. “So I mustered the courage and accepted the sting.”
Those willing to risk their necks also get a special certificate and an invitation to visit the castle again valid for the next 100 years!
Watch the full report in the video player, above.
