FluDropped by The Community

The California Immunization Coalition and The Community have created a campaign that spreads its message much like the flu does: through the air and by proximity.

Flu season is beginning and with it comes the need to remind people of the importance of getting the flu vaccine. Every year, up to 49 million people get infected by the flu in the US alone. Last year, more than 60,000 people died of complications created by the disease. And yet, according to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, only half of the population is planning to get a flu shot this year. So, the California Immunization Coalition has launched this campaign in partnership with the community’s local San Francisco office in hopes of finding ways anyone could help spread the message and get more people to get their flu shot.

The campaign, called 'FluDropped,' uses the iPhone’s AirDrop feature, which lets you share an image with anyone close enough.

On the heels of National Flu Immunization Week, street teams are 'fludropping' commuters on Muni and Bart, in the hopes to get as many people as possible to 'Airdrop' random people in high-risk places. The image being passed around shows a man sneezing and says “If you’re close enough to get this, you’re close enough to get the flu.”

The image also asks people to pass the message along and visit FluDropped.com to find out where they can get their flu shot, learn more about the disease, and download the image to help spread the message with the objective of getting more people to get vaccinated. In other words, the California Immunization Coalition wants to create an “epidemic that can save lives” and will partner with medical school and public health students to keep the message going during flu season — which goes all the way to April, peaking around January.