Shots Block

Up to 30% of adults are terrified of injections. The fear ranges from feeling squeamish when seeing a picture of one, to outright refusing medical care because of the phobia.

We all know how important it is to get vaccinated against Covid-19, and yet the imagery plastered all over the news is putting people off this life or death decision. “Fear of needles was one of the barriers that was a significant predictor of people saying, ‘I don’t think I will get this vaccine,’” said Jeanine Guidry, an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University who researches visual communication and conducted a survey of 500 people in July 2020.

This extension aims to relieve some of the anxiety caused by imagery in the news by blocking images containing keywords such as vaccine, injection, syringe. It relies on publishers having accurate alt text on the images they use, but the hope is by raising awareness of this phobia editors will rethink using these graphic images and video all together.

Install Shots Block now and you'll be able to read important vaccination news with a big yellow block covering up any terrifying photos of people getting the shot.