I am not actually sure, but my personal guess is that the boy in the pic is probably very scared of getting shots, and the VR headset is probably an attempt to distract him and bring him some kinda comfort. The parents are probably hugging him so he doesn't freak out, while hospital staff is administering a shot--safe to assume clotshot, but I dunno for sure.

Actually makes me fucking sick. As a child, I appreciated the availability of technology in hospitals, because I had to have a lot of MRIs and the experience was often pretty jarring. As opposed to making a child listen to magnetic nightmare noises for 2 straight hours, unable to move, they would give me headphones and a small little device to watch comforting Disney movies on. That was fantastic, and probably saved me from quite a bit of medically traumatizing memories...being in pain, being trapped, and so on.

My point of telling that story is to say that this picture is SO different. I needed MRIs. I had no choice. My parents comforted me just as the parents in this photo comfort their child. But this isn't necessary. Children don't fucking need this shot, nobody does, but children most of all do NOT need it. And children like this boy, who I assume must be really scared, are being made to feel that this injection is just as necessary as MMR, if not moreso, and that they must take it...even if they're so scared they need a movie on, or a hug...even if the shot may kill them. It's fucked. I feel so terrible for these kids man...