A Queensland clinic that specialises in treating anxiety is preparing to launch a program to help children overcome their fear of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
The course, run by clinical psychologists at Anxiety House in Brisbane and on the Sunshine Coast, will be designed to address "needlephobia" in children aged five to 12.
The program will include counselling and virtual reality simulations to help children prepare for the process so they can be more relaxed about it on the day.
More than one in five children — close to 500,000 — have already received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine since the rollout began on January 10.
In Queensland, that amounts to 98,610 children now partially vaccinated against COVID-19.
'Normal' for kids to feel worried
Clinical psychologist Brad Shaw said it was normal for children to feel "worried or upset or scared" about having a COVID-19 vaccine.
He said there were plenty of reasons why a child might feel that way.
"Children may have underlying vulnerabilities in relation to anxiety or phobias and then this has exacerbated that," Mr Shaw said.
"It's more of an opportunity to teach your child to actually be OK with talking about strong emotions and then actually learning some resilience or some coping strategies around these things as well."
He said the needlephobia sessions would involve cognitive behavioural therapy.
Children would be slowly shown what they fear in relation to their own anxieties, then shown how to cope with them through relaxation or other strategies.
"It's about debunking some of the myths in relation to what's going to happen with the vaccination process," he said.
"When they put on a VR headset, they feel as though they're actually there and they're actually getting it done.
"So after they've completed that ... they've actually calmed themselves.
What you can do for your kids
Mr Shaw said parents could make a plan for vaccination day, packing books, headphones, and their kid's favourite games to help them remain calm.
He said those steps could help to distract or comfort children if others were distressed.
The hardest part for parents and carers, Mr Shaw said, was that they too had to stay calm.
"Children look to adults for guidance on how to feel and how to act as well," he said.
"So if you say, 'You know, I'm a bit restless too, but let's just take a few breaths and let's play a game', and maybe, lastly, give them something to look forward to afterwards.
