How To Enjoy Thanksgiving Safely According To Dr. Fauci: ‘Please Be Careful’

It is possible to have a safe Thanksgiving holiday if you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the nation’s leading infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, and if you are not, he has warned, “please be careful.”

Fauci made the comments on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, saying that if you and your family members are fully vaccinated, it is OK not to wear masks for the holidays when gathering with each other.

“That's what I'm going to do with my family,” he told “State of the Union.”

He continued by saying, “Get vaccinated and you can enjoy the holidays very easily. And if you're not, please be careful. Get tested if you need to get tested when you're getting together, but that's not a substitute for getting vaccinated. Get yourself vaccinated and you can continue to enjoy interactions with your family and others."

But Fauci warned if you are traveling or unsure of the vaccination status of those around you, wear a mask.

Fauci continued his sentiments on ABC News’ “This Week” also on Sunday, saying, “If you’re vaccinated — and hopefully you’ll be boosted, too — and your family is, you can enjoy a typical Thanksgiving meal, Thanksgiving holiday with your family."

However, Fauci again warned about being around people who are unvaccinated during the holidays.

He told “This Week,” “The thing we’re concerned about is the people who are not vaccinated because what they’re doing is that they’re the major source of the dynamics of the infection in the community. And the higher the level of dynamics of infection, the more everyone is at risk.”

According to data from The New York Times, there has been a daily average of 92,580 new coronavirus cases daily in the U.S. over the last week.

Fauci said last week that the average daily number of cases needs to be around 3,300 a day to get control of the virus and under 10,000 cases a day to return to a sense of normalcy.

Cases of COVID-19 are rising across the U.S. again after falling as the country enters the second holiday season of the pandemic. As vaccine immunity wanes and all eligible vaccine recipients are urged to get booster shots, which were authorized on Friday for all Americans, as many as 60 million eligible U.S. residents remain unvaccinated.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 196.2 million Americans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, accounting for 59.1% of the U.S. population. Over 35.3 million people have had booster shots, the agency reported.