CTS Eventim enlisted to organise vaccinations

German ticketing and promotion giant CTS Eventim has been commissioned by federal state Schleswig-Holstein to organise local Covid-19 vaccination appointments.

Unlike many federal states, vaccinations in Germany’s northernmost state are not assigned centrally by the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians but instead by the contracted party, CTS Eventim.

According to the ministry of health in Kiel, the capital of Schleswig-Holstein, the entertainment behemoth was selected based on its ability to deal with the volume of appointment inquiries – something that many federal states are struggling with.

Schleswig-Holstein’s minister of health, Heiner Garg, calls the vaccination campaign an unprecedented “huge logistical and organisational task”.

Eventim’s COO says the scheduling of appointments is actually “not so different from the handling of major events”

Alexander Ruoff, Eventim’s COO, told Welt that the scheduling of appointments is actually “not so different from the handling of major events”. “That means limited capacities, ideally a lot of interested parties.”

The company has also received commissions from Austria and Brazil, according to Ruoff, and is “also in talks with other federal states and European countries, from Finland to Italy”. “Today we can practically pull the system out of the drawer,” he said.

Eventim isn’t the only major player from the live music industry to pitch in for the Covid-19 vaccination roll-out.

Just yesterday, major American promoters, venue operators and industry associations formally offered their venues, staff and expertise towards the United States’ national Covid-19 vaccination effort.

In a letter to new US president Joe Biden, Live Nation, AEG Presents, Oak View Group, the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) and others pledged their empty venues and furloughed staff for the vaccination programme.

Live venues are already playing a key role in the immunisation process internationally, with concert halls, arena and stadia, and convention and conference centres offering their services as mass-vaccination sites.

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