Vaccine clinic a little less painful with Stanford’s CHARIOT program

On Saturday, November 18, Menlo Park City School District hosted a community vaccine clinic at Hillview School with Safeway Pharmacy. Over the course of the four-hour event, Safeway administered over 550 Covid, Flu, and Senior Flu shots to participants ages three and above.

There were plenty of grateful community members, and this year, far fewer scared children. That’s because for the first time MPCSD partnered with Dr. Thomas Caruso, MD, PhD and the Stanford CHARIOT Program which develops technology to help distract kids from pain and anxiety that comes with medical procedures. They have recently developed a video game specifically made for vaccine clinics. The CHARIOT Program sent a team of providers and devices which were deployed during the clinic.

Parents were delighted with the opportunity for their children, some of whom typically need to be held down or who cry throughout the procedure, to receive their shots smoothly while playing a tablet or virtual reality based game. One relieved mom said it was the first time her daughter hadn’t cried during a vaccination. Another said her son is normally a runner, and they have to hold him down but today we were able to help him relax with the VR headset.

District Nurse Lianne Jemelian appreciated working with the CHARIOT Program and intends to collaborate with them in the future. MPCSD thanks Safeway for its continued partnership, district parent Corey Binns for reaching out about the CHARIOT Program, and to the community members who use our clinics for their vaccination needs.