This past week has been one of admissions for Springbok rugby captain Siya Kolisi.
Just recently, he admitted to having trouble getting his armpit odour under control.
Now, the rugby great has revealed his fear of needles while getting his Covid-19 vaccine.
Taking to Instagram, Kolisi posted a video while a nurse administers his vaccine with the caption: “Rugby tackles? No problem.
“Needles💉? Eish. But covid is real so let’s all get vaccinated so we can go back to a little bit of “normality”! Sigroove ingathi akekho ugogo @djsbu - Mzekezeke 😂😂 please register to get vaccinated.“
The accompanying video clip shows him anticipating the needle prick, and while it seems that he didn’t experience much discomfort, he still has time to add some humour to the moment by feigning a fainting spell.
Kolisi’s fear of needles is something many experience.
There’s a word for it, and no, he’s not alone - about 22% of the adult population suffers from trypanophobia – a fear of needles.
According to Healthline, trypanophobia is an extreme fear of medical procedures involving injections or hypodermic needles.
And children, especially, are afraid of needles because they’re unused to the sensation of their skin being pricked by something sharp.
With South Africa full vaccine rollout mode, a simple needle prick is all that stands between you and immunity.
While conducting a survey in January this year, CompariSure found why some were unwilling to get vaccinated – 34% of users cited “side effects” as their main concern.
Other commonly stated reasons for rejecting the jab included “religion” (13%) and “cost/price” (16%), with approximately 40% of respondents stating “other”.
Another interesting reason was the “fear of needles”.