Opinion: What giving flu shots backstage taught me about public health
\n \t
\n
<\/BR>
\n
\n \t
\n
<\/BR><\/p>\n
For the past two and a half months, I\u2019ve spent many afternoons in the hidden spaces of New York\u2019s performing arts world \u2014 its dressing rooms, rehearsal studios, green rooms, and backstage corridors. I\u2019m a physician, and this fall I volunteered as one of two clinicians administering shots for the Entertainment Community Fund\u2019s annual flu vaccination program, presented in partnership with Broadway Cares\/Equity Fights AIDS. The long-running program brings free, on-site flu shots directly to casts, crews, musicians, stagehands, ushers, and members of the performing arts community across Broadway, off-Broadway, and beyond.<\/p>\n
More than 2,000 flu shots later, delivered over nearly 70 sessions, I\u2019ve come away with a deeper understanding of what community looks like. It was also a window into how public health lives or dies at the level of ordinary, everyday interactions.\u00a0<\/p>\n