Last year, the key public health advice before Thanksgiving and other holidays was simple: don’t go, but if you must, be really, really careful. This year, all US adults, along with children over 5 years old, are eligible to receive at least one of the highly effective vaccines, many infectious disease experts cautiously admitting the risks due to gathering is generally lower.
However, you’d be hard-pressed to find a COVID-19 expert willing to declare Thanksgiving 2021 completely “safe.” They say the reality is that there will be some risk of spreading the virus; Families considering gathering will need to decide how much risk they are willing to take, both in terms of their own health and those with whom they will be spending time.
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Consider who is most at risk
As you decide what precautions to take or whether to travel, keep in mind the people you’re trying to protect. Denis Nash, a professor of epidemiology at the City University of New York and co-founder of the CHASING COVID Cohort Study, says the most important goal is to keep people at risk of severe illness or death safe. death from COVID-19. The project is designed to understand the spread of viruses. Even if they are vaccinated, people who are older or have pre-existing medical conditions are at higher risk of being hospitalized or dying from the coronavirus.
Of course, not being vaccinated puts people at much higher risk of severe COVID-19 illness. Unvaccinated adults are approximately 12 times more likely to be hospitalized than vaccinated adults. based on US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The safety of children who are too young to be immunized or only partially vaccinated should also be considered. While it’s true that children are less at risk of severe COVID-19 than older adults, it’s a comfort if your child goes to the hospital. “There are no guarantees,” said Shruti Mehta, a professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “The problem is that the statistics don’t tell [parents] What will happen to their child? In addition, unvaccinated children can still carry the virus even if they don’t have related symptoms, meaning they could unknowingly pass it on to people who are at higher risk of severe illness. , like grandparents.
Once you’ve identified who is most at risk, the next step is to consider how you can protect those people. For example, if you have a small, unvaccinated child, the “safest situation,” says Mehta, is if they are surrounded by vaccinated people. She emphasizes that when someone you are gathering with has not been vaccinated, it is especially important to take other protective measures, such as reducing other social activities and wearing a mask during throughout the visit.
For her part, Mehta was thinking about how to keep her elderly father safe during the holidays. She said she would make sure he got his booster shot and that throughout the off-season gatherings, would only come into contact with people who were vaccinated, wearing masks. “It was the best we could do,” she said.
Know who has been immunized–or Already have a booster
It’s not easy to understand, but the best thing you and your loved ones can do to protect yourself from COVID-19 is to get vaccinated. Fortunately, more people are eligible for vaccinations than ever before: children under the age of 5 can now receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Before you agree to attend the Thanksgiving party, talk to the other guests about whether they and their families are vaccinated. “It is always important to have conversations in advance with all involved about planning to assemble safely,” says Nash.
You and your loved ones can boost immunity even further with booster shots. Boosters are now recommended for people at high risk for severe COVID-19 — including those over 65 and those with certain health conditions or at high risk because of where they live or work job. They are also recommended for anyone who originally received the J&J footage. However, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to expand eligibility for booster shots soon, and more adults may be eligible for these shots as soon as Friday.
Think about where you are going… and where you come from
Does the spread of COVID-19 just about our own behavior — it’s also about what’s going on in our community. That’s why you should monitor how quickly the virus is spreading in your local community, as well as in the communities you’re traveling in.
Jill Foster, professor of paediatrics at the University of Minnesota, says that if the parent of an unvaccinated child asks her if she should travel, “I think the first thing to ask is will they go?” where,” she said. “The number of infections is very low in New York; I would feel very safe bringing an unvaccinated child to New York. I’m currently in Minnesota, where there are some [daily case] Nationwide rates right now. And so I wouldn’t bring an unvaccinated child to Minnesota. ”
What Else Are You Doing To Reduce Your Risk (Besides Vaccinations)?
In addition to vaccinations, infectious disease experts say it’s important to adhere to current pandemic safety measures: social distancing, wearing face masks, washing hands and considering eating outside outside.
There’s promising evidence from last year’s Thanksgiving that efforts to slow down transmission can make a difference. In research published by Scientific reports In August, Mehta and colleagues from Johns Hopkins found that people who traveled on Thanksgiving were only more likely to test positive for COVID-19 if they also engaged in a variety of other activities that helped they come into contact with people in the weeks before and after the holiday.
A big lesson for this year, says Mehta, is to think not only about the holiday but also about all the other gatherings we are participating in around that time. “I think the idea is that if you’re going to do one thing, you can’t do all the other things,” says Mehta. “If you are going to travel, just limit the other sections. Don’t go to a restaurant every day of the week before you travel.”
Consider waiting until next year
If you ultimately decide that the risks from holiday gatherings are too great, your best option may be to stay home. That’s especially true for people who have not been vaccinated, and even more so if they are at higher risk for COVID-19 or expect to be exposed to a high-risk person in the near future. In those cases, “really think twice,” says Mehta.
