The redesigned syringe is part of Apple’s iOS 14.5 beta, which also includes a number of new emoji options, including a burning heart, a face with squinting eyes and the ability for both women and men to shave have.
Removing the blood from the emoji from the syringe makes it more suitable to suggest the vaccination of Covid-19, said Jeremy Burge, the chief emoji officer of Emojipedia, an online emoji dictionary. (He also said that the change does not prevent the emoji from being used to donate blood.)
The move to make the emoji less graphic comes amid the biggest vaccination in American history.
“Removing the blood makes these emoji more versatile, and can also remove any misconception that vaccination involves blood,” Burge told CNN Business. “Whether it has a direct effect on the way the emoji is used, or whether it helps the vaccination rate, which we do not yet know, but it should not cause harm.”