Offering a vaccine to combat monkeypox in bathhouses is a great way to connect resources with the community, and help them be more informed in a safe environment, said Lamb. The first clinics were offered exclusively to these employees in order to target high-risk communities, public health said in an online statement Saturday. The illness is within the same family as smallpox therefore smallpox vaccines are being used to combat monkeypox as it’s been shown to be effective. Steamworks is one of several bathhouses where, on Sunday, the city launched smallpox vaccination clinics to protect workers from monkeypox. “We don’t want people to be feeling afraid or anxious, we just want them to feel informed and able to connect with resources,” said Lamb. But the anxieties voiced are about more than the virus - it’s about the stigma and hate that could be directed toward the LGBTQ community, gay and bisexual men in particular, he said. His clients want to know how to protect themselves and others. As a union steward of Steamworks Baths, a bathhouse in the Gay Village, Graeme Lamb has heard questions from patrons about the monkeypox virus.