Seattle Sounders to begin handing out COVID vaccines to fans at home matches
Apr 29, 2021, 3:33 PM
The Sounders taking on the Portland Timbers. (Jason Rantz, KTTH)
(Jason Rantz, KTTH)
The Seattle Sounders announced Thursday that the team will now be distributing COVID-19 vaccines to fans at home matches free of charge.
Safety measures to expect at Lumen Field for early season Sounders games
Vaccines will be available during matches at Lumen Field starting Sunday, May 2 on a walk-up basis “with no appointments necessary,” operating out of the West Field Plaza outside of section 140 and the East Main Concourse outside of section 104.
This comes on the heels of the team announcing that it has now fully vaccinated its First Team players and support staff against COVID-19, in hopes of motivating fans to follow suit.
“We hope that our players and staff being 100 percent bought into the overall vaccination effort inspires others to do the same,” Sounders General Manager and President Garth Lagerwey said in a written release.
Vaccination will be available right when gates open, and run through to the end each home match. Fans who get vaccinated this Sunday will also get a voucher for a free hot dog redeemable at Lumen Field concession stands.
Seattle could approach citywide herd immunity by end of May
Doses will be administered by the Seattle Fire Department’s mobile EMS staff, with support from Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. Fans will be given the choice between the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine or getting their first dose of Moderna’s two-dose vaccine. Recipients must be 18 or older in order to be eligible for either vaccine, as the Pfizer vaccine is the currently the only one authorized for those ages 16 and up.
Lumen Field’s event center will also continue to host its mass vaccination site, which provides first and second doses by appointment only.
Sounders FC first received approval from local health authorities in early April to begin hosting fans again, with an allowed capacity of 7,000 people for the first five home matches of the season. Face masks are required for all attendees ages 2 and up regardless of vaccination status, excepting when fans are actively eating and drinking.
