The Opera House in Leipzig will be the City’s first municipal vaccination centre: starting Monday, 13 December 2021, individuals can receive their first, second, or booster shot in the coat check hall, Monday to Friday, between 8:00 am and 3:00 pm. Individuals will also be able to receive independent consultation regarding vaccinations during the same hours. The entrance to the center is in the Goethestraße near the Operncafé; barrier-free entry is also located in the Goethestraße, access for information is possible through the main entrance at Augustusplatz. The Oper Leipzig is further providing support by providing entry assistants and other helpers, including ensemble members Sabine Töpfer from the Musikalische Komödie and opera singer Tuomas Pursio, who will again appear as Telramund in the Lohengrin stream over Christmas and New Year’s. Performances at all venues have been canceled through 9 January 2022 due to the pandemic.

 

Prof. Ulf Schirmer, Intendant and General Music Director of the Oper Leipzig, sees this additional opportunity to get vaccinated and receive consultation positively, nothing that both are concrete measures to combat the acute corona situation. He says, “We are very pleased that the Oper Leipzig can support the effort against the pandemic in this way. A high vaccination rate, which is a sign of solidarity, is the first step in ensuring a lasting cultural coming-together.” The German Red Cross (DRK) and the Municipal Entities Engelsdorf (KEE) have already conducted a trial run with employees of the Oper Leipzig and the City of Leipzig, to test out operational workflow and verify that the spatial requirements for vaccinations and consultation at the Opera House are met. Lydia Schubert, Administrative Director at the Oper Leipzig, welcomed among other representatives the head of Leipzig’s Public Health Office, Dr. Regine Krause-Döring, to the Opera House. Schubert notes, “Medicine and music coming here together to combat this dangerous virus is a hopeful sign: Leipzig is on the move and getting vaccinated, and in doing so, is helping safeguard culture and live performance.”