SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With Thanksgiving approaching, another year of holiday plans are taking shape under the cloud of COVID-19. Health officials are concerned that cases could spike this winter in part due to family gatherings.
“The big question is what’s going to happen this holiday season," infectious disease expert Dr. David Herbert said, echoing concerns from health officials around the country. "Last year over the holidays, we had the biggest spike of COVID infections that we’ve seen to date, even bigger than the Delta spike."
Many Americans have already been vaccinated against COVID or have natural immunity due to previous infection, but informal "family vaccine mandates" and reducing the number of guests are among the precautions people said they would be taking next week.
Sacramento native Ryan Hurley said he was looking forward to spending Thanksgiving at his mother's.
"My mom is really taking the lead on it because she’s hosting the holidays; everyone needs to be vaccinated," Hurley said.
"We're just going to keep things very small, family oriented," said another shopper, Sukanya Basu.
Dr. Herbert also pointed to child vaccinations and booster shots as measures families can take now before Thanksgiving, Christmas and other winter holidays begin taking place.
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