Santa Wants A Vaccine This Year Special

This year Santa is asking for a gift before holding sneezing tykes-a swine flu vaccine. As the parade of shopping mall Santas ready to tackle the holiday question of what kids want for Christmas, they are asking to have protection from the swine flu.

The Charlotte Observer reports that the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas had a seminar on swine flu at this year's conference in Philadelphia. Santa is being told that hand sanitizers and vitamins should be on their goodie list this year. Nicholas Trolli, president of the Order is also hoping that mom and dad leave sick little ones at home this year.

"We don't want any child to go without seeing Santa, but it's not worth bringing your child to the mall, infecting the Santa and infecting the other children."

Santa America's volunteer Santas will be cleaning their suits every day this year instead of the usual weekly cleaning. The roughly 200 Santas visit with sick and grieving children. Eaton Centre, in Toronto, will have plenty of hand sanitizer ready to protect their Santa who is arriving on Friday, general manager Susan Allen told Digital Journal. "Our Santa Experience this year will also feature a new photo op! We are using a green screen this year so that photos can feature the Crystal Wish Tree. The tree is covered in Swarovski crystals. The photos also come with a memory stick this year." Melissa, the marketing director at Bayview Village Shopping Centre, told Digital Journal their mall will also be providing hand sanitizer for Santa and the kiddies. The best rule of thumb when it comes to taking the little ones to see Santa this year is if they are too sick for school they are too sick to be lugged to the mall. Seeing Santa Claus when you're sick isn't as much fun as waiting a week for your child to be in good spirits.