COVID-19’s Delta variant’s impact on holidays unclear

COVID-19 is still in effect, after nearly two years. The new Delta variant of the virus has people questioning, myself included, if holidays and other traditions will still be affected.

Emilie James, Photographer|November 10, 2021

Graphic by Emilie James

There are nearly 5 million people in Washington alone that are fully vaccinated! The number of people fully vaccinated rapidly increased in a span of only a month and a half, by around 1,204,885, according to Our World Data as of October 25, 2021. The current number of vaccinations has reached approximately 4.8 million. Yet, “it’s too soon to tell how COVID-19 will effect Holiday gatherings,” says Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of NIAID.

 

Now that the vaccine has been distributed to millions across the country, according to Our World Data (see graph) if we will need to celebrate holidays differently this year. I’ve asked some students here if they believe this pandemic will affect how they plan on celebrating Halloween this year.

“The places we might go might be closed; the only difference is to wear masks. I’m vaccinated, and I’m pretty sure most people are vaccinated… it should be good,” sophomore Justin Pontoh said.

“COVID will definitely have an impact but we’ll try to make it as normal as possible while staying safe,” junior Jay Iversen said.

While it doesn’t seem like the Delta variant is doing much harm to our celebrations this year, we must continue to use the precautions from last year to remain safe.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said, “It’s too soon to tell how COVID-19 will affect holiday gatherings,” (TODAY News).

For people not yet vaccinated, the advice remains that they should not be traveling or staying in large groups. The same procedures will likely apply to Thanksgiving and Christmas this year as well. Stay safe out there Vikings!