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I’m also wondering what my busy block is going to do. Will the couple at the end of my street be playing the mechanical piano while they hand out treats? Or will they sink, as they did last year, worried about spreading the coronavirus if they participate?
My family is now fully immunized, as my child is, surprisingly, a teenager. But is it safe to walk around our crazy Halloween neighborhood? We do not know who is vaccinated among those 12 and over, and those under 12 cannot yet be vaccinated.
CNN: Let’s come to the most important question: Is it safe to go for a sleight of hand this year?
Dr. Léana Wen: Yes! I plan to go make treats with my kids.
Granted, as with most things at this point in the pandemic, I’m not saying it’s all exactly back to 2019. People should always take precautions this Halloween, especially if their kids, like mine, are too. young people to be vaccinated. (my son is 4 and my daughter is 1 1/2).
Trick-or-treat can be pretty safe from a coronavirus perspective. Many families in my neighborhood will place packets of treats in their backyard for children to find, like a scavenger hunt. My son and a few friends will be walking together, with everyone’s parents of course, and this activity is very safe.
There are a lot of people who want to go back to pre-pandemic times and say hello to the kids by saying “Trick or Treat”. If it’s not raining or snowing, I encourage them to move outside. It is better to put wrapped candy in a child’s basket than to put your hand in a large bowl. If children end up touching their hands or other commonly used surfaces like doorknobs, make sure you have hand sanitizer on hand.
If you live in an area with single family homes or townhouses, I think it’s probably also low risk to knock on people’s doors and cheat or deal. Just make sure you don’t go into someone’s house. If you live around many apartment buildings and have to enter elevators and hallways to deceive or treat, the risk of Covid-19 is significantly higher. I encourage parents not to enter other people’s apartment buildings and instead seek activities in a nearby park or other primarily outdoor locations.
CNN: Are there other Halloween activities that you would encourage children, especially younger ones and unvaccinated children, to avoid?
Magnifying glass: In general, I encourage unvaccinated children to stay away from indoor parties. Transmission of the coronavirus is still at very high levels in many parts of the country, and children now constitute more than a quarter of new infections. Indoor activities remain high risk. Luckily for our kids, the outdoor trick-or-treat is the safest activity, and the candies are individually wrapped.
CNN: What about older children who are already fully immunized?
Magnifying glass: I think parents should have a conversation about their kids about how much risk they are willing to take as a family. There may be families where everyone is generally healthy and vaccinated. The risk of one of the family members becoming seriously ill in this case is low. It may be reasonable to decide that an indoor meeting with friends is okay, especially if all friends and their relatives are also vaccinated.
The same goes for activities like movies, a dance or a haunted house. All of these activities involve some degree of risk. The risk increases with higher community transmission rates, more participants, and overcrowded and poorly ventilated spaces. Wearing a mask indoors, around people of unknown vaccine status, is always a good idea to reduce the risk of contracting and spreading Covid-19.
Just as some families will be willing to assume some of these risks, there are others who will want to take extra precautions. Some families have younger children who are not yet vaccinated. They could live with elderly parents who are immunocompromised. For people in such circumstances, it may be reasonable to avoid high-risk indoor activities to protect other members of the household.
CNN: If you were invited to a Halloween party, what questions would you ask?
Magnifying glass: I would ask who will be there. If everyone present is known to be vaccinated, it would be much safer than if there are people who have not been vaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown.
Also, where will the party take place? If it is mostly outdoors and participants can choose to stay outdoors all the time, the risk will also be much lower than if it is held entirely indoors.
If it’s inside, will it be crowded with crowded people? Or will the windows be open and people can space out? It also changes the risk calculation. Of course, you should also take into account your own medical situation and that of your family members, as we discussed earlier.
CNN: Children between the ages of 5 and 11 can get permission to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by Halloween. Should parents try to get them vaccinated as soon as possible so they can enjoy the holidays?
Magnifying glass: Many parents will be very anxious to get their youngest children vaccinated, but it would not affect their activities during Halloween. Even if children could receive their first injections just before Halloween, they would not be considered fully immunized until two weeks after their second inoculation.
CNN: And now, the most important question: what are you and your kids going to dress up in?
Magnifying glass: My son, Eli, is obsessed with Winnie the Pooh. That’s what he was last year, but we never got a chance to go sleight of hand in the outfit, so he could do it again this time around. I think he wants to dress his sister as a Piglet. We can’t wait to get together with some of Eli’s relatives of friends for a walk around the neighborhood – then gather at our neighborhood park for a game.
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