Jason Alexander Wants You to Get Your Flu Shot
Didn't know Jason Alexander was so passionate aboutย fluย protection? Big time. Plus, he answers the burning question you didn't know you had: Would George Constanza get his flu shot?
Itโs not hard to place Jason Alexander: one look and you’re instantly droppingย Seinfeld one-liners. Of course this TV legend’s work has gone far beyond the perennial 1990s sitcomโfrom a Tony Award for his work on Broadway to his recent appearance inย The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Off the stage and screen,ย Alexander has been vocal about a number of public health issues over the years, including ALS and scleroderma. Now, with a potentially intensive flu season right around the corner, heโs partnered with the American Nurses Association (ANA) for a timely cause: to encourage you to get your flu shot.ย
As the son of a nurse, Jason Alexander has plenty of classic self-care advice (stay hydrated! Get lots of rest! Keep your temperature down!). He spoke with The Healthy @Readerโs Digestย to share why he’s shining a spotlight on flu season, his flu horror stories and his go-to sick day self-care.
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“One of the few good uses of celebrities”
Anย online videoย for the ANA’s flu shot campaign stars Alexander as a guardian angel, saving passersby from everyday dangers. One inconvenience you donโt need a guardian angel to control, the spot suggests, is the flu.ย โI jumped at it because it’s one of the few good uses of celebrities,โ Alexander said. โTo stand next to things that are important and try to reflect a little attention onto it.โ
He adds that heโs protected himself with the flu shot for at least 20 years, and he wants others to have that same protection ahead of this upcoming potentially severe flu season.ย โWeโve been distancing and masking and staying home, and our immunity to the flu has actually gone down,โ he said. โAnd now that masks are off and weโre all coming back togetherโand weโre coming into the holiday season and everyone wants to be with family and friends and communityโitโs a recipe for disaster.โย
Jason Alexander’s flu horror stories
If you can remember a time or two when the flu really got you down, Alexander says he can relate with two moments that stick out in his mind: the first is when he caught the flu during Tony voting season while he was starring in Jerome Robbinsโ Broadway, for which he eventually won Lead Actor in a Musical.
At the time, though, he didnโt know the story would have a happy ending. As someone with mild asthma, Alexander says anything that gets into his lungs becomes more serious, so he wasnโt surprised when the flu turned into bronchitis.ย โI missed a week of shows during Tonys season,” he says. “I actually performed for … [almost] two weeks with bronchitis. I canโt tell you, it was holding your breath and trying to walk along the bottom of the swimming pool while youโre entertaining people. It was a horrible experience.โย
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The second time was years later while playing the lead in a film, when he took several medications to power through.ย โI was like a zombie walking through that film,โ he said. โI think one of the reasons you may not have heard of it is I was terrible. Because I was practically comatose from these medications. So I know firsthand that the flu can be a really minor inconvenience with these vaccines. But if you donโt do it, there are just these crazy potential ramifications.โย
Whether you catch the flu or instead just experience some mild side effects from the vaccine, learn from Alexanderโs mistakes: stay home and take it easy. His top tip?ย โNetflix is your new best friend. There are some terrible movies. You can go see the movie that I was very bad in, itโs probably sitting there.โย
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Would George Constanza get the flu shot?
Jason Alexander might not crumble in pain in the way hisย Seinfeld character didโโI have a wonderful wife who looks over me like a guardian angel, and nothing bad ever happens to me because sheโs in my life”โbut they do have one thing in common. Alexander says for all his faults, heโs pretty sure George Constanza would get the flu shot.
โGeorge was a bit of a hypochondriac,โ he says. โSo I would imagine he would be very happy to keep a potential disease away from him. I also know that in many cases, for many people, the flu vaccine is free. Well, thatโs the magic word for George. Free, something for nothing? Heโd be on line the minute the store opens.โ
For more wellness updates,ย follow The Healthy onย Facebook,ย Instagram, andย Twitter.ย Keep reading:
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