Some Very Good Boys and Girls are helping calm the fears of children getting their COVID vaccines. ❤
Nolan’s mom, Jessica Mabie, is vice president of Oishei Children’s Hospital operations. She said therapy dogs are vital in helping more kids get vaccinated against COVID-19 because they provide a distraction, a calming presence, and just a whole lot of love. Having therapy dogs in the waiting room helps eliminate one of the trickiest parts about vaccines for kids, she said: the anticipation that builds up into nerves and fear.
“The environment was just so much friendlier, people were so much more at ease,” Mabie said. “You could tell, you know, there were some nerves from the kiddos that were waiting, but by having the dogs there… we could focus on the dog instead of the shot.” Pet therapy programs are certainly not limited to New York. They’ve been popping up in Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, Texas, Colorado, and San Diego, where Ollie the therapy dog was recently the subject of a news article for his hard work helping kids get their COVID shots. Ollie was there for 9-year-old Avery Smith when anticipation about the vaccine had her in tears at a San Diego clinic.
There is no vaccine hesitancy like that of a 9-year-old staring down the glint of a hypodermic needle And there is no remedy quite like Ollie, a 6-year-old goldendoodle therapy dog who is helping kids at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego overcome it