Fauci: remarks on Christmas gatherings “misinterpreted”

Antoine FauciAnthony FauciFauci says it’s too early to say if Christmas gatherings will be safe said on Monday that his comments that it was “too early to say” whether it was safe to get together for Christmas had been “misinterpreted” and that he was in fact encouraging people to do so.

“The best way to make sure we are in good shape as winter approaches would be to get more and more people vaccinated,” Fauci, the government’s top health expert, told CNN on Monday. Infectious diseases. “This has been misinterpreted as my claim that we cannot spend Christmas with our families, which absolutely was not the case. I will be spending Christmas with my family, I encourage people, especially vaccinated people who are protected, to have a good, normal Christmas with your family. “

The problem is a comment Fauci made on CBS ‘”Face the Nation” on Sunday. Asked by host Margaret Brennan if “we can get together for Christmas, or it’s just too early to say it,” Fauci replied: “You know, Margaret, it’s just too early to say it.”

“We just have to [concentrate] to keep lowering those numbers and not to try to move forward weeks or months and say what we’re going to do at some point, “he added at the time.

The comments drew back from some Republicans. Former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb also offered a different point of view when asked about Fauci’s comments Sunday on CNBC.

“Nothing will stop us from getting together,” Gottlieb said, saying “people should just be careful” and use testing, especially if they have older family members or young children.

Fauci said Monday he was referring to uncertainty over the overall state of the pandemic in December, not uncertainty over the safety of family reunions.

Brennan originally asked Fauci, “We’re going in cold weather. We’re going into vacation. Should people start looking around and saying that it’s just too risky to get together with family members? are there unvaccinated children? “

He told CNN on Monday that there was still uncertainty about the general state of the pandemic going forward, but getting more people vaccinated may help maintain the current downward trend in cases.

Cases are down from their peak, but still exceed 100,000 per day, with nearly 2,000 deaths per day, according to a New York Times tracker. Unvaccinated people are at much higher risk and make up the bulk of those who die.

“The only thing we have in our power is to make sure that there are fewer and fewer cases and that the downward slope that goes down continues to decline,” Fauci said. “And the way we can do that is to get more and more people vaccinated. “

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines this month that if people have vacation gatherings indoors, opening windows and doors and putting a fan in the window can improve ventilation and reduce the spread of the virus.