Fauci advises public to test family members for Christmas gatherings, warns against travel

Doing his best impression of the Grinch, Fauci advised Americans to refrain from any family gatherings unless everyone present is public with their vaccination status.

Fauci advises public to test family members for Christmas gatherings, warns against travel
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
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Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading medical advisor to the White House on all matters COVID, has put a damper on Christmas festivities this year. In a statement to ABC’s This Week,” Fauci warned families not to have relatives over unless they’re fully vaccinated.

While Republican families will undoubtedly ignore Fauci’s heavy-handed advice, liberals who wouldn’t be caught dead without two or more masks outdoors will be most affected.

Doing his best impression of the Grinch, Fauci advised Americans to refrain from any family gatherings unless everyone present is public with their vaccination status.

“Don’t do things like go to gatherings with people you do not know what their vaccination status is,” Fauci plainly stated.

“Some people are actually going the extra step and the extra mile of maybe even being tested when you have people coming over to the house,” he declared, adding that, “We now have much wider availability of point of care tests where you can get a result in about 15 minutes. So you might want to do that.”

In a Sunday interview with NBC’s Meet the Press,” Fauci warned that Christmas travel risks increasing infections. Noting the “extraordinary capability” for Omicron to spread, Fauci urged for more people to get vaccinated, take tests, and wear masks as the holidays approach, Sky News reported.

“It is just, you know, raging through the world, really,” said Fauci.

“When you have so many, many infections, even if it is less severe, that overcomes this slight to moderate diminution in severity because our hospitals... are going to be very stressed with people because, again, we have so many people in this country who are eligible to be vaccinated, who have not yet been vaccinated,” he added. “And that's going to be a real problem for a stress on the hospital system.”

Speaking to CNBC’s Squawk Box” last week, Fauci said that the redefinition of being “fully vaccinated” was “on the table.”

At present, individuals with two shots of either the Pfizer-BioNtech or Moderna vaccines or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine are considered fully vaccinated. Under Fauci’s proposal, a third, or “booster” shot, could be required for a renewal of the status.

“There’s no doubt that optimum vaccination is with a booster,” he said, CNBC reported. “Whether or not the CDC is going to change that, it certainly is on the table and open for discussion. I’m not sure exactly when that will happen. But I think people should not lose sight of the message that there’s no doubt if you want to be optimally protected, you should get your booster.”

Fauci’s remarks are in line with a doctor who told CNN that Americans ought to take home COVID tests on Christmas morning before opening presents, and wear masks at their own gatherings — just like his own family does.

“Please wear your mask whether you’re vaccinated or not,” said Dr. William Schaffner, director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

Can you imagine a world in which you have to stick a swab down your nose to attend a family dinner? No thanks.

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