December Vax Corner: Managing Needle Anxiety with Hack the Vax

By Maria Huang, MD, FAAP
Vaccines Committee Co-Chair, Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics

When your child hurts, you hurt too.

Needle anxiety among children is a major barrier to vaccine uptake as is the distress parents feel when their child experiences pain. Consider incorporating the following tips in your practice to help kids and parents feel less anxious. Preparing for and making the vaccine experience a better one for the entire family can help decrease last-minute vaccine refusal.   

Hack the Vax is an initiative of the non-profit Meg Foundation, a team of experts in pain, psychology, health behavior change, and technology. The Hack the Vax partner kit has digital resources to empower people around their pain experience. Post the Create Comfort handout in your waiting and exam rooms so families can prepare ahead of time. Share the personalized poke plan for kids and teens using strategies to reduce stress. You can also visit www.hackthevax.org for more information and resources in English and Spanish.  

• Send a text or portal message to families before their vaccine appointment with tips on how to prepare ahead of time. 
• Share different tools your office uses to help alleviate the discomfort of injections: Buzzy Bee, shot blocker, lidocaine numbing cream, distraction (bubbles, pinwheel, abdominal breathing), and comfort positioning. 
• Decreasing parental anxiety will decrease infant and child anxiety!