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BY JEN CALANTONE
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Some New Jersey Santas are putting the swine flu vaccine on their wish lists this holiday season.
Several unions and groups of Santas are looking for a shipment of the swine flu vaccine to ensure that they do not pass the disease to the many hundreds of children they encounter this winter.
With the H1N1 virus keeping parents on high alert to make sure their kids don't get sick, the holiday staple has caused many Santas to keep bottles of hand sanitizer next to their chairs and several changes of gloves to prevent spreading germs.
Santa America has asked children to "santa-tize" their hands to "fight the flu bug."In a message on Santa America's Web site, children are asked to cough into their sleeves rather than their hands or in the air.
"We want to protect Santa and his elves and even the reindeer from the flu bug," the Web site said. "And most important of all, Santa wants to protect YOU from getting sick so you will enjoy every minute of this wonderful time of the year!"
While Santa Ray Beesley of the Fairfield Garden Center on Route 46 awaits the swine flu vaccine, he said he is being extra cautious to make sure that neither he nor the children will get sick.
He changes his gloves every two hours or if he encounters a sniffling or coughing child. Rather than getting kisses from the children, he now goes in for a high-five, he told The Record.
The concern of swine flu has upset many others, including one poster on New Jersey Moms Blog.
The poster, a mother who is considered high-risk for the H1N1 virus due to a medication she takes, said her 3-year-old son may not see Santa until he has a swine flu vaccine.
