Several children attended the hospital wearing hats with typical Christmas motifs and waited with discipline for their turn.
A campaign against COVID-19 in Bolivia used several Christmas characters to promote the vaccination of minors between 5 and 11 years old, something that not even the “Grinch” could avoid no matter how much he wanted as he ended up receiving one of the doses.
On Friday, December 17, the municipal hospital of La Portada in La Paz opened the “Santa Claus office” after a well-received call on social networks to arrive with games and the delivery of some gifts to minors eligible for vaccination.
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Several children attended the hospital wearing hats with typical Christmas motifs and disciplinedly awaited their turn while the activity was animated by the enthusiasm of the medical staff who represented the elves of Santa Claus, the Three Kings and other characters.
Bravery in the face of the puncture
An “ouch!” Strong was the one pronounced by 6-year-old Kevin who was the first to volunteer to receive the vaccine despite the fact that his mother hugged him trying to distract him from the puncture that barely lasted two or three seconds.
When Camila sat down to be vaccinated, she kept looking askance at what the nurse with the syringe was doing, and the talk that Ofelia, a nurse who dressed as a goblin, was trying to make with her was vain, asking her questions to prevent her from freak out.
“I was encouraged to come by the car they gave me,” Kevin said to Efe and Camila admitted that “it didn’t hurt that much” and that she had to get vaccinated because her mother had given it to her in the morning.
However, not all reactions were the same, some reflected their anguish before the puncture while they waited, others frowned and wrinkled their faces as soon as they felt the sting and some held their voices and tried not to express any sensation until they were a tear escaped when he felt the infiltration.
After they are vaccinated, “we are supporting them with a small present” as a reward, said Fátima Verduguez, director of the hospital, who said that the gifts were contributions from the personnel who work in that health center.
The Grinch Against Vaccines
When everything was going well, the “Grinch” arrived to try to ruin the prepared program with threats that “there was going to be no Christmas” and that he would take “all the vaccines” he could find.
Upon seeing him enter, a group of children was amazed and without any instructions being involved, they tried to convince the character dressed in green that the vaccines were good and that even he should receive some and support that task.
And so it was, the “Grinch” accepted the challenge, acknowledged that the vaccine did not cause him pain and then everything was games and hugs with the little ones who were left or who arrived.
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The Government ordered from the previous week the extension of vaccination to children between 5 and 11 years old, a task that has achieved that some 73,384 doses are applied in the country precisely for that population.
A meeting the day before between the Ministry of Health and the departmental and municipal authorities determined that the scope of the doses between 5 to 17 years should be increased by at least 30% for the following days.
Bolivia has a population suitable for vaccination of 10.2 million people and has used around 9.9 million doses between first, second and third doses and single applications.
Since the arrival of the pandemic in March last year, the country has accumulated 9,391 deaths and 560,684 confirmed cases, while 32,771 patients maintain the active disease. (I)
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