An 89-year-old passenger ship — out of commission due to the COVID-19 pandemic — was on Tuesday repurposed as a vaccination center for thousands of Swiss residents on the shores of Lake Constance.
The 500-passenger MS Thurgau carried tourists and commuters between German and Swiss communities on Europe’s third-largest lake, but the vessel has been repurposed to serve as a floating inoculation hub for the northern Swiss towns of Romanshorn, Arbon and Kreuzlingen.
Regional officials said that the vessel is practical as it can sail from harbor to harbor, earning it the nickname Vaccine Vaporetto with some locals.
Photo: AP
“I’ve heard of a fondue ship, and a spaghetti ship, but this is my first shot ship,” Swiss Minister of Health Alain Berset told reporters just after the first people to be vaccinated walked the gangway.
Aboard the MS Thurgau, there are two shot stations capable of vaccinating 24 people per hour, or one every five minutes.
As more vaccines arrive in Switzerland, the stations could be expanded to eight.
During the first week, the vessel is to be in Romanshorn, a historic lakeside grain trading center, followed by two weeks in larger Kreuzlingen.
After another week in nearby Arbon, the vessel is to make the return voyage to Romanshorn so that those inoculated earlier can get a required booster shot.
“It was perfectly organized. I didn’t even feel the needle,” said Kurt Huber, who lives in the region, as he disembarked from the gangway after his shot.
Huber said that he would recommend the shot ship to others who might be hesitating over whether to be vaccinated.
“When you see what otherwise could happen, it’s simply logical,” he said.
Only Moderna shots are being used aboard the MS Thurgau, as the 10-dose vials are slightly easier to prepare in the ship’s cramped quarters, medics said.
The canton of Thurgau initially considered creating vaccine centers aboard buses, but eventually opted for the idled pleasure boat.
“We wanted to figure out just how we could vaccinate as many people as possible, with as few vaccination centers as were necessary,” Thurgau official Urs Martin said.
The initial round of shots aboard the MS Thurgau is planned for the next 12 weeks, said Adriano Mari, leader for all of Thurgau’s vaccination centers run by private hospital group Hirslanden.
He hoped that an extension beyond this maiden voyage would not be necessary.
“Hopefully by then, things will have eased and the ship can return to carrying passengers on its regular route,” Mari said.
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