U.S. families plan big holiday celebrations with COVID-19 shots in arms
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[November 22, 2021]
By Barbara Goldberg
(Reuters) - Tanya Primiani will host 12
people around a long Thanksgiving table in her Silver Spring, Maryland
home on Thursday, a boisterous scene she looks forward to welcoming
after the COVID-19 pandemic limited the size of last year's gathering.
Her parents are coming from Montreal, driving across the recently
reopened U.S.-Canada border. Her sons, ages 7 and 10, have gotten their
first round of COVID-19 vaccinations, and all the other guests are fully
vaccinated against the virus.
"I love the craziness of cooking for a bunch of people and having all
the hustle and bustle around the table and everything that goes along
with that," said Primiani, whose holiday menu will include cornbread
stuffing and butternut squash soup. "There will be so much gratitude
this year."
Many American families are excited to bring multiple generations
together again for Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas now that widely
available COVID-19 vaccines have reduced the worry and risk that
curtailed last year's festivities.
Approximately 59% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated against the
deadly virus. Children ages 5 to 11 were approved for the vaccine
earlier this month, and as of last week 2.6 million kids - or nearly 10%
of those eligible - had gotten their first of two shots, White House
coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients said.
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Even so, the return to pre-pandemic traditions is proving complicated
for some whose loved ones are choosing not to get vaccinated or do not
consider COVID-19 to be a serious health threat.
Connie Perkins, her husband and their three children are skipping their
usual Thanksgiving meal with relatives and taking a week-long road trip
to campgrounds far from their home in Galveston County, Texas, to avoid
any confrontation over vaccination status.
Everyone on her husband's side of the family is vaccinated against
COVID-19, Perkins said, but none of her five-member family is because
they do not believe the shots are safe.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the vaccines are
safe and continue to get intensive monitoring.
"We’re not going to present the opportunity for that to even come up and
make anyone uncomfortable," Perkins said.
Public health officials say families can gather safely indoors if all
members are vaccinated. However, with COVID-19 cases still high in some
places and young children either not yet eligible for the shots or fully
vaccinated, they suggest precautions such as celebrating outdoors and
getting rapid tests to rule out sickness ahead of the gatherings.
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![](../images/112221pics/news_c5.jpg)
Tanya Primiani walks with her son Noah Starling, 7, to the
observation area following his first COVID-19 vaccination at Eastern
Middle School in Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S., November 6, 2021.
REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
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Children ages 4 and younger who cannot get vaccinated
yet are best protected if they are surrounded by vaccinated people,
top U.S. infectious disease official Dr. Anthony Fauci has said.
Joseph Kyle, a public school history teacher, said he's requiring
his vaccinated extended family members to take COVID-19 tests before
attending the Thanksgiving meal at his home in Maplewood, New
Jersey, because his 10-year-old daughter Penelope doesn't get her
second shot until the next day.
"To be extra cautious, we will insist that everyone be tested in
advance of the holiday dinner," Kyle said.
Penelope said she is excited to once again listen to the sometimes
heated political discussions over meals with her relatives, calling
last year's Thanksgiving with just her four-person family "boring."
"It’s more fun, more happy when there’s more people there," she
said.
In neighboring South Orange, New Jersey, Robin Cutlip said she would
attend a large family Thanksgiving gathering known for its sumptuous
feast and board games even though her 10-year-old daughter has only
gotten one shot so far and two nieces, ages 12 and 7, are not
vaccinated.
In her view, if American life is ever to return to "normal,"
families shouldn't exclude anyone from their holiday traditions over
whether they are vaccinated or not.
"I’m of the mindset that this is here to stay," Cutlip said. "We
have to not be reckless, but we also have to get back to living our
lives. There are always going to be people who aren’t going to get
vaxxed."
(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York; additional reporting by
Evelyn Hockstein in Washington, D.C.; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and
Diane Craft)
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