Our Best Shot: Needle phobia? There s help available to deal with fear. Overcoming a common phobia is key to the success of the COVID-19 vaccine campaign.
By EDITORIAL BOARD, Star Tribune April 10, 2021 6:00pm Text size Copy shortlink:
Like hearing fingernails on a chalkboard. Feeling lightheaded if you stand up too fast. Having lizard brain take over, triggering almost overwhelming fight-or-flight instincts. That s how Eryn O Neil of St. Paul describes the acute discomfort that has accompanied her lifelong fear of needles. Nevertheless, the 36-year-old software engineer and mother of a toddler isn t backing away from the COVID-19 vaccine. The greater good of ending the pandemic is far more important, she said, than the temporary but very real distress that comes with the shot.