Doctor Tells CNN Viewers that Vaccinated People Should Wear Masks Around Their Families at Christmas

Dr. William Schaffner advised CNN viewers on Thursday to wear masks around their families on Christmas, even if they were vaccinated for Covid-19, and to potentially test themselves for the virus on Christmas morning.

Referencing the fact that Covid-19’s Omicron variant appears to be more transmissible but less severe than previous incarnations of the virus, CNN’s Alisyn Camerota asked Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University, “What does that mean for Christmas? Should we be getting together with our vaccinated loved ones?”

“If we’re all going to get together, we should all be vaccinated, and preferentially boosted,” Schaffner replied. “We should wear our masks if we’re uncertain, and another thing we could do is we could all get tested the morning of our getting together. We did that at our house over Thanksgiving because we had a member who had a very serious condition that put them at risk of very severe disease should they get infected. We were all negative. It worked out just fine.”

Camerota pointed out that it wasn’t easy to get at-home rapid tests, prompting Schaffner to acknowledge it was not a “panacea.”

“But it is something that some people certainly can think about,” he added. “And I would certainly say if you’re going to any group event indoors, whether you’re vaccinated or not, please wear your mask.”

Watch above via CNN.