Fauci gives the OK for kids to trick-or-treat
‘It’s a good time to reflect on why it’s important to get vaccinated, but go out there and enjoy Halloween, as well as the other holidays that will be coming up.’
ANTHONY FAUCI director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
With Halloween only three weeks away, Anthony Fauci says it’s OK for children to trick-or-treat this year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the chief medical adviser to President Biden noted that trick-or-treating takes place outside, where the risk of coronavirus transmission is significantly lower.
“You can get out there,” Fauci said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“You’re outdoors, for the most part, at least when my children were out there doing trickor-treating,” he added.
“And enjoy it.
I mean, this is a time that children love.
It’s a very important part of the year for children. I know my children enjoyed it.”
He continued to urge people who are eligible for the vaccine to get the shot.
“If you’re not vaccinated, again, think about it, that you will add an extra degree of protection to yourself and your children and your family and your community,” Fauci said.
“So it’s a good time to reflect on why it’s important to get vaccinated, but go out there and enjoy Halloween, as well as the other holidays that will be coming up,” he added.
COVID-19 vaccines so far have been approved for people 12 years and older. The Food and Drug Administration plans a meeting in late October to consider Pfizer’s request for emergency use authorization of its vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky had also recently said that kids should be able to go trick-or-treating this year.
“If you’re able to be outdoors, absolutely,” she said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“Limit crowds,” Walensky added. “I wouldn’t necessarily go to a crowded Halloween party, but I think that we should be able to let our kids go trick-or-treating in small groups.”
For the first time in more than two months, the U.S. is reporting fewer than 100,000 daily cases. Hospitalizations are down below 10,000, and deaths have declined to fewer than 2,000.
“So it’s certainly going in the right direction. That’s the good news,” Fauci said. “And, hopefully, it’s going to continue to go in that trajectory, downward.
“But we have to just be careful that we don’t prematurely declare victory in many respects,” he added. “We still have around 68 million people who are eligible to be vaccinated that have not yet gotten vaccinated.”