Americans are focusing on risk reduction this Thanksgiving

Tens of millions of Americans are preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, a major test for living with the coronavirus instead of avoiding it at all costs — as experts brace for the possibility of another winter surge partially fueled by indoor holiday gatherings.

Public health authorities are not begging Americans to skip Thanksgiving or keep get-togethers small like they did last year before vaccines were available and during the start of a winter wave that would kill thousands a day.

Instead, their focus for Thanksgiving 2021 is all about risk reduction: getting vaccines and boosters, undergoing testing to prevent asymptomatic transmission and, in some cases, celebrating outdoors or while masked. And they urge extra vigilance when Thanksgiving gatherings include an elderly or immunocompromised person who would have a harder time fighting off the virus even if they are vaccinated.

Two-thirds of Americans are planning to celebrate Thanksgiving with about as many people as they did before the pandemic, according to a poll by Monmouth University. Just a quarter plan to celebrate alone or with just their household, compared to half last year. The Transportation Security Administration is expected to screen nearly as many people this week as it did during the same period in 2019.

“We are past the phase of broad mandates and telling folks not to gather. But I think Americans still need to be smart,” said David Rubin, who monitors national coronavirus trends for the PolicyLab at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“Americans, as fatigued as they are and as much as they’d like to see covid in the background and no longer relevant to their lives, for this holiday season, it remains relevant in so many places across the country,” Rubin added.

Rubin, like many public health experts, does not want to dissuade people from celebrating holidays, especially the vaccinated who have robust protection against severe illness.

Anthony S. Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious-diseases expert, recently told the Post Reports podcast that vaccinated people can feel “good and safe” about enjoying a typical Thanksgiving meal.

White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeffrey Zients said he was “optimistic” about this Thanksgiving during Monday’s federal COVID-19 briefing.

“I have heard from many families who are now able to reunite because of the protection from covid-19 vaccines,” Zients said. “There is certainly much to be thankful for this year. For me and my family, we will reflect on how deeply thankful we are that we can safely be together.”

Roughly a third of Americans consider gathering with friends and families for Thanksgiving risky, compared with nearly two-thirds last year, according to new Axios-Ipsos polling.

While experts aren’t discouraging Thanksgiving gatherings, they caution against giving premature thanks for an end to the pandemic.

Infections are rising in nearly every state, particularly in the Upper Midwest, where experts expected upticks because of colder weather driving people indoors.

The obvious difference between Thanksgiving 2020 and Thanksgiving 2021 is vaccination. Six in 10 Americans are now fully vaccinated — and all adults now qualify for boosters while elementary-schoolers are getting their first shots.