Needle phobias are preventing some people from getting COVID-19 vaccines. These interventions could help – CBC
Canadian Psychological Association says about 4.5% of Canadians suffer from needle phobia
Nov 01, 2021
A blade of grass and a lot of patience.
That was how Paul Friedlander finally got his dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in September.
The 12-year-old has a needle phobia, and while he desperately wants to receive his second dose, his fears are proving hard to overcome.
“My brain and my body just do not let me get this injection,” he said.
His mom, Anna Eberhardt Friedlander, is looking for the Vancouver nurse who poked a stalk of grass into her son’s arm to mimic the pressure of a needle and spent over an hour comforting him before he got the jab at a pop up clinic at the University of British Columbia.
She’s hoping the nurse could again help her son overcome his fear so he could get a second dose of the vaccine but has so far not had luck finding the nurse, whom she only knows by her first name, Rosa.
The family tried to get Paul vaccinated a second time, but he said the experience was traumatizing, and they’re unsure when they’ll try again.
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/needle-phobia-prevention-1.6229655
