HOW TO REDUCE VACCINE ANXIETY Your child has no doubt knows about COVID-19 by now and may have some worries. They may also already have heard about “a vaccine” but not know what this is.
The focus in on how this vaccine prevents serious illness, but your child will by now be thinking about the injection. So here is the next step.
With COVID vaccination now open to 5-11 year olds, you may need some help tackling this subject with your little ones.
Step 2 – You can do this! You’ve already had loads of injections
It’s the “Not Knowing” that makes things scary for kids. So, I’ve made a 5-step breakdown of how to explain having a vaccine to your child. Each step has a separate main point that you want to get across to your child. Following each step, in order, allows a natural flow to the discussion and gives your child the chance to voice concerns or ask questions. I’ve written the discussion exactly as you might say it, in this font. This is what worked for my kids from about age 3 onwards. The younger the child, the simpler your language will be:
Step 1 – You need to have an injection “There’s a virus in the world called Coronavirus, or COVID, which can make people very sick. But we now have medicines to stop people from getting sick, even if they catch the virus. There is a special medicine called a vaccine. It’s a tiny injection that stops you from getting sick, even if you catch the Coronavirus. Pretty handy hey?!” Then PAUSE and see if your child asks any questions. If they don’t know what an injection is: “It’s a very thin needle that goes this far (hold your thumb and index finger 1 cm apart) in your arm for about 3 seconds to give the medicine to your body.” 24
“Do you know you’ve already had heaps of injections? (At this point I like to bring out their immunisation record for them to hold, and we look at it together). You had an injection when you were born. Then you had more when you were 2 months old, 4 months old, 6 months old, 1 year old, 1 ó years old, and 4 years old! You’ve had heaps. And you were super brave for all of them!” At this point your child may want to count the number of injections they have had. They may also be very interested in how they went with all these injections. This is a great time to ollow your child’s lead, as well as reflect on those experiences (which they probably won’t remember)
Step 3 – Reflect on previous injection experiences If your child asks how they went previously: “Well, you cried when you were a baby. You were too little for me to explain what would happen, so it was a big shock. But as you got older, you got braver and braver. Sometimes you cried a bit, but you sat on my lap and had a big cuddle and it was over really quickly. One time, they blew bubbles to distract you, and you hardly even noticed!” cont.
