BURBANK : Prizes to Ease Pain of Inoculations for Tots
Organizers of this year’s “Shots for Tots†hope that storytelling and prizes will distract children from the fear of getting immunization shots.
This is the third year St. Joseph Medical Center has offered the free immunizations. This year’s event is being held May 21 at the Burbank Adult School on Allan Avenue. For the first time, the event is being combined with “Babes in Storyland,†run by the Burbank Preschool parent council. The preschool is a program for the children of students at the adult school.
The story program is a literacy carnival at which children, from preschool age through sixth grade, can hear storytellers, play games and win prizes.
A child could be soothed from pre-shot fears with a story, or go to the carnival afterward to forget the pain. “It could work either way,†said Kelly Curtis, a hospital spokeswoman.
The free immunizations are being offered to the first 200 children who show up at the site May 21 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
The shots are administered by hospital staff, using free vaccines provided by the Los Angeles County Health Department for measles, polio, mumps, diphtheria, rubella and tetanus. Parents are asked to bring their child’s immunization records.
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