Earlier this week, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the outgoing director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, called on Americans to get vaccinated, boosted, and tested before gathering with family for Thanksgiving.
“First of all, everybody should be vaccinated and boosted with flu and with COVID,” he said. “Whether or not you wear a mask — or another thing we shouldn’t underestimate is testing.”
He added, “So when we’re gathering at a family gathering for Thanksgiving or for Christmas or for any other holiday as we get into the winter, it makes sense that you might want to get a test that day before you come into a place in which you might be infected and spread it or other people who might be there in order to protect.”
He also said that masking is still “important” and described getting vaccinated, boosted, and tested as “part of the spectrum of protecting yourself.”
Fauci: "When we're gathering at a family gathering for Thanksgiving, it makes sense that you might want to get a test before you come into a place where you could be infected and spread it." pic.twitter.com/MSYZemxjWg
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 22, 2022
And now let’s all roll our eyes together. Look, we’ve been getting lectured about this for two years now. And I sure as hell haven’t worn a mask or asked anyone to get vaccinated to participate in Thanksgiving dinner. I got over that nonsense long ago. I haven’t worn a mask in public for roughly a year and a half now. I certainly am not wearing a mask at the family dinner table. I did get vaccinated last year. I’ve had one shot of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, and I’m one and done. No boosters. Sorry, not gonna happen. Sometimes I wish I held out and hadn’t gotten the J&J shot.
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So, yeah, I’m totally over COVID and couldn’t care less what Fauci has to say. As far as I’m concerned, he didn’t leave soon enough, and I’ve been looking forward to his retirement for a long time. And it turns out that most Americans are also over COVID, according to a new poll from The Economist/YouGov.
When asked, “Taking into consideration both your risk of contracting it and the seriousness of the illness, how worried are you personally about experiencing COVID-19?” most respondents, 59%, said they are not very worried, and out of those, 27% said they are “not worried at all.”
As for the worrywarts, 28% said they are somewhat worried, and only 13% said they are “very worried.”
As I’m sure you could have guessed, concern about COVID is higher among Democrats (58%) than among Republicans (26%) and independents (38%). Seventy-three percent of Republicans and 60% of independents say they are not extremely worried or not worried at all about catching COVID.
The survey also found that only 17% of Americans “always” wear a face mask and 14% say they wear one “most of the time.” These people are in the minority, as 44% say they “never” wear a face mask, and 25% say they do some of the time.
Americans clearly don’t agree with Fauci that we need to be afraid of COVID for family gatherings. As far as the public is concerned, it’s time to move on, and I suspect most of us won’t miss Fauci.
