If you’re among the 25% of Americans averse to needles, you’re probably not surprised by the COVID-19 immunization stall.

Research-proven adult interventions for pain, fainting, panic and fear can make vaccination more tolerable.

At a minimum, understanding the reasons needle fear has become common might make the embarrassment easier to bear.

In that paper, adult patients who remembered when their fear began described a stressful needle experience around age 5.

A 2016 study found needle fear to be the most common reason teens didn’t get a second HPV vaccine.

Health care workers are no exception: A 2018 study found that 27% of hospital employees dodged flu vaccines due to needle fear.

Relieving injection pain may reduce needle fear by giving patients a feeling of control.

Specifically for vaccination, applying a vibrating cold device to the injection site a minute prior to injection, then pressing just above the site during injection, relieved pain and improved satisfaction for adults, and was most effective for those with needle fear.

A horseshoe-shaped plastic device using sharp prongs to confuse the nerves also reduced injection pain but increased anxiety, possibly due to discomfort from the prongs themselves.

A visual finding task given to children during intramuscular shots has been shown to reduce pain and fear, with 97% rating the experience more pleasant than previous blood draws.

To reduce needle fear, research suggests the more interventions, the better.

A 2018 study summarizing research on vaccine pain concluded that patient-operated cold and vibration devices combined with distraction techniques were most effective.

Canada has implemented a practical national needle fear intervention for their vaccine rollout, emphasizing preparing ahead to help make vaccine day more comfortable.

Conspiracy theories and fear of needles contribute to vaccine hesitancy for many parents.

She previously received funding from the NICHD for vaccine pain research, and is currently funded by NIDA for work with mechanical stimulation for low back pain as part of the HEAL initiative to end opioid addiction long-term.

India is close to agreeing to grant foreign COVID-19 vaccine makers such as Pfizer Inc protection against legal liability so that it can use their shots in an immunisation campaign that is facing acute shortages, three government sources told Reuters.

CLAIM: COVID-19 vaccines make people produce a spike protein that is a toxin and can spread to other parts of the body and damage organs.

The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

(Reuters) -Europe's drug regulator on Friday identified another very rare blood condition as a potential side effect of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine and said it was looking into cases of heart inflammation after inoculation with all coronavirus shots.