NEW YORK (NewsNation Now) — A New York City doctor is cautioning that not everyone who is receiving the COVID-19 vaccine is receiving it correctly.
Dr. Tom Pitts, a board-certified neurologist, says he has been noticing too many injections going out across the United States not being administered the correct way.
He is getting the word out that the vaccine should go directly into the deltoid muscle.
He has launched the social media campaign he calls #DoNotSqueezeMyArm.
You’ve probably seen the images of people getting vaccinated across the country. Pitts says he has seen too many times where the skin is being pinched as the needle goes in.
He says that could lead to the vaccine being injected into the fat under the skin, instead of into the muscle where it should go.
“I just want to make sure it’s done correctly. So I find this to be an issue for a few reasons,” said Pitts. “One, let’s start with the fact that vaccine was studied in intramuscular injections — that’s where the safety and efficacy data comes from — so there’s that issue. The other issue is the technique is incorrect. We now use the Z-track method, which is essentially pushing down to ensure that you’re bringing the muscle out towards you and moving the fat away. That ensures less pain, most of the pain fibers are in the fat not the muscle. It also ensures proper placement into the muscle. And it also prevents regurgitation back into the subcutaneous fat.”
You can watch the full interview in the player above.