LISBON (Reuters) – Nurses carrying reindeer antler headbands danced to festive music and Santa Claus confirmed up at a Lisbon vaccination centre on Saturday as younger children began to obtain their COVID-19 photographs.
Martim Sobral, 10, and his dad Paulo had been among the many first to reach on the massive vaccination web site after Portugal’s well being authority final week accepted the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for these aged 5 to 11.
“If I do not get vaccinated I’ve extra probabilities of getting COVID-19, and I do not need that,” Martim mentioned. His father added: “It is necessary for everybody, for the world, for the nation, that the vaccine exists so folks will be protected.”
Nurses carrying Rudolph the reindeer headbands or the crimson nostril mentioned they had been attempting to ease the children’s anxieties.
“It is a mass vaccination marketing campaign in an unwelcoming constructing so we tried to create a extra relaxed surroundings so children are much less anxious,” mentioned nurse Paula Ramos.
As children left the positioning to go residence, workers handed out sweet and gave them vibrant stickers saying: “I’ve been vaccinated!”
Portugal, which has one of many world’s highest charges of vaccination in opposition to COVID-19 with round 87% of its 10 million inhabitants absolutely inoculated, is now going through a surge in infections, partially because of the Omicron variant.
Rita Oliveira and her 11-year-old son Afonso, additionally confirmed up on the vaccination centre, each beforehand contaminated with COVID-19. She took the chance to depart a message to folks nonetheless doubtful about whether or not to vaccinate their children or not.
“Trust people who know greater than we do … so this (pandemic) lastly ends and we will have our lives again,” she mentioned.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony, Miguel Pereira and Pedro Nunes, modifying by Andrei Khalip and Clelia Oziel)
