Needle phobias are preventing some people from getting COVID-19 vaccines. These interventions could help
CBC
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.
About 4.5 per cent of adults in Canada have a severe phobia of needles, according to the Canadian Psychological Association. It's characterized by a persistent fear of needles and intense anxiety or distress around having blood work done or receiving injections.
Anna Taddio investigates needle phobias, particularly in children, at the University of Toronto's Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy.
She says while most nurses receive training in how to make people feel more relaxed around getting needles, there are a myriad easy and often free ways to put people with intense needle phobia at ease.
Offering longer appointments with lots of time to talk the procedure through or letting people walk outside for fresh air can make a big difference, she says.
As provinces expand their vaccination programs to school-age children and unvaccinated adults, Taddio says, it makes sense for health providers to embed more accommodating practices in their vaccine rollout.
Some provinces, such as B.C., offer information on how to manage a needle phobia, but researchers say more concrete steps, such as dedicated spaces for those with phobias, could be beneficial.
"If you actually have a fear of needles, that can be the only reason that's preventing you from getting vaccinated," Taddio said.
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