Dr Fauci says to enjoy Halloween

Despite the wide availability of Covid-19 vaccines, not all Halloween parades were immune to virus-related cancellations this year.

In Westchester County, New York, for example, the Tarrytown Halloween Parade has been canceled out of concern, organizers said, for “our most precious attendees, our children,” many of whom are not yet eligible to attend. vaccines. And in neighboring Rockland County, the Nyack Halloween Parade has also been canceled. The National Zoo has also canceled its popular Boo at the Zoo because it did not believe it could protect visitors or animals from the virus.

But Dr Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor, came to the defense of the mask-friendly holiday in a CNN interview on Sunday, saying the outdoor trick-or-treat was perfectly fine. sure.

“This is a good time to think about why it is important to get the vaccine,” he said, urging those who were eligible for coronavirus vaccines to get them before Halloween to protect themselves and their children. “But go over there and enjoy Halloween.”

He said the ability for parents to get vaccinated, combined with the low risk of spreading the virus outdoors, provided some reassurance.

“It’s a time that kids love,” said Dr Fauci. “It’s a very important time of year for children.

The FDA cleared the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for 12 to 15 year olds in May. Since then, more than 8.2 million children in this age group have received at least one dose and more than 6.7 million have been fully immunized.

Pfizer and BioNTech last week asked federal regulators to authorize their vaccine for children aged 5 to 11, a move that could help protect more than 28 million people in the United States. Shots should not be available for this group until early November.

Coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the United States are currently on the decline, giving hope that the wave caused by the Delta variant is fading. But Dr Fauci warned on Sunday that there were enough unvaccinated people left to allow the virus to rebound during the colder months.