Fauci Says He Gave Santa Claus The Covid-19 Coronavirus Vaccine Before Christmas

Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci spoke about ... [+] Santa Claus and the Covid-19 vaccine: "I took care of that for you because I was worried that you'd all be upset," he said during a CNN and "Sesame Street" coronavirus town hall for families, after worried youngsters asked whether Santa could safely enter homes on December 25. "I took a trip up there to the North Pole; I went there and I vaccinated Santa Claus myself. I measured his level of immunity, and he is good to go," Fauci declared. "He can come down the chimney, he can leave the presents ... you have nothing to worry about." (Photo by JIM WATSON,THIBAUD MORITZ/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

Worried that Santa Claus may become a Covid-19 coronavirus super-spreader? After all, isn’t Santa Claus going to be visiting millions of households soon? Might he visit your household in the next 24 hours, assuming that you haven’t been naughty and require a pardon first?

Well, Anthony Fauci, MD, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984, did suggest that the situation is under control. Here’s what he said during CNN's Sesame Street ABC's of Covid-19 town hall as can be seen in the following video from The Guardian:

As you can see, Fauci said that he personally gave Claus the Covid-19 vaccine. Fauci didn’t specify which vaccine though. He didn’t specify when he gave the vaccination either, since it may take a few weeks for the immune system to fully respond to the vaccine and both the Pfizer/BioNtech and Moderna vaccines involve two doses administered 21 days and 28 days apart respectively. It’s not clear whether Claus has been part of the clinical trials for either vaccine. A publication in the New England Journal of Medicine did not specify whether any of the Pfizer/BioNtech trial participants were 1,750 years or older. Claus’s age (he’s been around at least since 280 A.D. or before Justin Timberlake left N*SYNC) and status as a front-line worker would place him in a high-priority group to get the vaccine.

Nevertheless, even if Claus (or Santa as he’s known) has already received the Covid-19 vaccine, he should still practice social distancing, wear a face mask, and wash his hands frequently and thoroughly. Getting the vaccine does not mean that you can stop taking such precautions. The vaccine may offer you some protection. But no protection is 100%. Plus, it doesn’t rule out the possibility that you can still carry the virus and spread it to others even after being vaccinated.

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It will be important for Santa to wear a face mask. As anyone who has said the word “ho” before knows, saying, “ho, ho, ho” can spew out a fair amount of respiratory droplets that may linger in the air. So Santa and his “ho’s” in your household could lead to aerosol transmission without a face covering to block these droplets before they reach the air. Santa’s beard may look like a face mask, but it really doesn’t cover his mouth and nose. A face mask needs to cover his nose. While Rudolph the Red-nosed reindeer may need to expose his nose to guide Santa’s sleigh, Santa should keep his nose covered while visiting people’s houses, apartments, and condos. Don’t worry about Rudolph spreading the virus in your household since he usually remains on the roof.

Santa is an exception to many rules too. If someone besides Santa were to say, “I would like to come down your chimney,” especially without telling you when specifically, tell that person no. Make sure that person realizes that typically the front door is a better way to enter your house and with the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic continuing, such random visits from someone not already in your social bubble are a bad idea. Instead, visits need to be carefully coordinated so that there is social distancing and good ventilation in place.

Last minute shoppers in Dublin's city centre on Christmas Eve ahead of a 3pm shut down due to high ... [+] coronavirus case levels. (Photo by Damien Storan/PA Images via Getty Images)

PA Images via Getty Images

With the Covid-19 coronavirus spreading widely in the U.S. and every day more and more cases occurring, it’s a good idea to not have visitors to your household this Christmas. The exception may be a jolly man with a big beard as long as it’s not Zach Galifianakis. Unless you’ve already been living with Galifianakis or he can prove to you that he’s been quarantining for the past 14 days or so, this is not the time to meet with the actor from The Hangover.

Although the risk of Covid-19 coronavirus transmission on objects is relatively low, take appropriate precautions when handling presents. If an object may have been contaminated with the virus, leave it out for a while or wipe the packaging down with either disinfectant or soap and water, depending on the surface, before touching it. Make sure that you wash your hands after touching something that is not clean. And wash your hands before preparing something for someone else, like milk and cookies or hot dogs for Santa.

All in all, the chances that Santa Claus will become a Covid-19 coronavirus super-spreader are pretty low. Even though Rachel Sandler wrote for Forbes about a maskless Santa Claus that exposed special needs children to the Covid-19 coronavirus in South Carolina, that person was probably an impostor, not the real Santa Claus. If someone shows up in your household with a red suit and a beard, don’t assume that it is Santa Claus. You can ask for his ID or see if his location coincides with NORAD’s Santa Tracker:

Be especially suspicious if the person is not practicing social distancing or wearing a face mask in your household. After all, wouldn’t the real Santa Claus understand the importance of protecting each other especially children and that we are all in this together?

Merry Christmas.

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