The redesigned syringe is part of Apple’s iOS 14.5 beta, which also has a number of new emoji options, including a burning heart, a wide-eyed face and the ability for men and women to beard.
Eliminating blood from the emoji syringe makes it more appropriate to represent Covid-19 vaccination, said Jeremy Burge, the director of emojis at Emojipedia, an online dictionary of emojis. (He also said that the change does not prevent the emoji from being used to represent blood donation.)
The move to make the emoji less graphic comes amid the biggest vaccine launch in the history of the United States.
“Removing blood makes this emoji more versatile and can also remove any misconceptions that vaccination involves blood,” Burge told CNN Business. “Whether that directly impacts how the emoji is used or helps with vaccination rates, we still don’t know, but it shouldn’t hurt.”