Seattle Sounders to offer COVID-19 vaccines to fans at home games

The Seattle Sounders announced Thursday that they are teaming up with the city of Seattle and Virginia Mason to offer COVID-19 vaccines to fans attending home games at Lumen Field starting this weekend, when the team will take on the LA Galaxy.

The team will be setting up two in-stadium clinics that will be available to administer vaccines with no appointment needed. Fans will be able to receive either the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine — which recently resumed administration in the state — or their first dose of the Moderna vaccine.

If fans opt for the Moderna shot, city employees will help schedule their second dose at a community vaccination hub. The vaccine is only available to those who are unvaccinated, and residents will not be able to receive their second dose at the stadium.

"It's critical to mention that as a community it’s essential for as many people as possible get vaccinated, while remaining socially distant and using masks," said General Manager and President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey in a news release. "We hope that our players and staff being 100 percent bought into the overall vaccination effort inspires others to do the same."

The vaccines are free of charge, and fans will also get a voucher for a free hot dog for getting the jab.

The team, which announced that it is also fully vaccinated, is hoping to build public confidence in the vaccine.

"We want to get back to normal as soon as possible, with a full stadium singing, cheering and celebrating with the team in person, but that can only happen if we’re all willing to do own individual parts – which includes getting vaccinated and continuing to mask up and follow health protocols," said Owner and President of Business Operations Peter Tomozawa.

The vaccination program comes as King County is at risk of rolling back to Phase 2 of the state's reopening plan in May following a fourth wave of cases driven by virus variants. In recent days, state and public health officials have been urging residents to get vaccinated, often advertising thousands of open appointments across the city.

"We are up against a fourth surge that is very dangerous that has the capacity to overwhelm our hospitals as these numbers continue to rise," said Gov. Jay Inslee during a Thursday news conference. "At the moment, the thing that has the capability of breaking this rise, is increasing vaccination rates."

So far, nearly 42% of people in Washington have received at least one dose of the vaccine and nearly 29% are fully vaccinated. That means more than 70% of people in Washington are not yet fully protected and could get the virus or spread it.

Despite the risk of rolling back a phase, sports events will not be affected as they fall under a special exemption, allowing them to still seat up to 9,000 people.