Sir Kenny Dalglish Visits Healthcare Workers At Anfield Vaccination Center

Anfield, Liverpool’s legendary home, has been startlingly quiet this season. The iconic ground, which has been a fortress with a roaring crowd for the Reds the several season prior, has turned into a house of horrors over the past couple of months for Jurgen Klopp and his squad. But for many others in the community, Anfield has become a beacon of hope.

While the ground may be empty of fans on match day, it has been a hive of activity. Liverpool’s stadium facilities have been turned into a vaccination center by the National Health Service. Sir Kenny Dalglish, a legend as both a player and manager for Liverpool, stopped by to visit with the front line workers and to share his thanks with them.

“I really wanted to visit the vaccine center at Anfield to personally thank some of the incredible NHS staff and volunteers who have been tirelessly working to help protect people from this virus,” said King Kenny.

“Football plays such an important role in the city of Liverpool, so it feels right that there’s a vaccination site here at Anfield, helping to reach out to people who live in the local communities around it.”

It is great to see the team offer up the facility for use by the community. It really does fall within the ethos of the club, to support the community just as the community supports the club. Dalglish went on to encourage everyone to get the covid-19 vaccine when possible.

“I have already had my COVID-19 vaccination, and I want to encourage everyone else to get one when invited to,” exclaimed Dalglish. “Having the vaccine is the best way to protect you and your loved ones, and help get life back to normal. Also, the more of us who are protected, the sooner we can get back on the terraces to cheer on our team – whether you’re Red or Blue.”

Dr Fiona Lemmens, chair of NHS Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group, described the success of Anfield being turned into a vaccination center. To this point, the city of Liverpool has vaccinated almost 100,000 of its residents.

“The delivery of the vaccination programme in Liverpool is going really well, and it’s such a huge team effort, with everyone from GPs and vaccinators to admin staff, stewards and volunteers, all playing a hugely important role,” said Dr. Lemmens.

“The fact is that it simply wouldn’t have been possible for us to have achieved the kind of vaccination rates that we have so far across the city without these teams working so hard behind the scenes, and it’s wonderful to be recognized in this way.”

While it’s been tough sledding for Liverpool and the fans, it is nice to be reminded of what is really important. The local community is getting the opportunity to get vaccinated by the dedicated NHS staff and volunteers, and Anfield is playing a part in all of that.