Weird places to get a COVID vaccine

When the COVID-19 vaccine arrived last year, we barely batted an eye at all the strange places we were expected to sit and get jabbed in the arm. A baseball stadium? Cool! A grocery store? I’ll bring my shopping list! Sure, it was a little weird, but we were living in weird times, and waiting inside the hallways of your local middle school was a small price to pay in exchange for the protection of the vaccine. Today, like many things we found odd in 2020 and 2021, vaccination sites are just a part of everyday life.

Here are the most mysterious, miserable, and mundane places people have been vaccinated so far:

1. At Dracula’s castle

Transylvania’s Bran Castle is a national monument and landmark known to tourists as “Dracula’s castle.” While there’s no evidence that Dracula author Bram Stoker based his lead character’s abode on this residence, it’s still cool to say you got pricked by something other than vampire fangs there.

You’ll get boosters, not bites, at Bran Castle.
Credit: Photo by DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP via Getty Images

2. Under the watchful eye of the Museum of Natural History whale

You may never get to live out your wildest Night at the Museum fantasies, but getting boosted under the largest known animal to have lived on Earth still grants you impressive bragging rights.

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3. In empty malls and abandoned department stores

Many Americans reported returning to their withering local mall or the hollowed out carcasses of department stores ravaged by the retail apocalypse for their shots. People have been vaccinated in a forgotten Lord and Taylor, an empty Best Buy, and a former Pier 1 Imports. TikTok user and blogger Lauren Haden, who is a friend, waited in line for her booster in the empty shell of Victoria’s Secret, complete with mirrored ceilings and, inexplicably, cardboard Minion cutouts.

4. At a theme park

The general public was ushered into the empty lots of theme parks across the country, from Magic Mountain to Disneyland to Six Flags for a few months in early 2021. Originally closed in response to the pandemic, those parks have re-opened, with Disneyland closing its vaccination site and, ironically, not requiring park guests to show proof of vaccination.

The happiest place on Earth briefly doubled as a mass vaccination site.
Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images

5. At an endearing local community space

Move over local libraries and swimming pools, the Italian Cultural Centre of Vancouver has seized the moment to educate an influx of non-Italians on the soothing properties of simmering marinara. Mmm… just like nana used to make it!

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6. In a drug store, with background music

Lots of Americans are getting vaxxed at their neighborhood pharmacy, so it’s hard to say that the experience is unique. But there is a certain je ne sais quoi to getting vaxxed in fluorescent lighting, at the end of the makeup aisle, jamming to a 2000s hit.

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7. In a club

People have reported getting their shots in all types of clubs, even strip clubs, but this tweet makes Berlin sound like the place to be. America, it’s been real! I’m moving to Germany to untz untz untz while I get my vax.

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