On Sunday, Anthony Fauci declared in an interview that only vaccinated Americans “can enjoy the holiday season,” the Daily Caller reports.
In an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Fauci said that “for groups that are vaccinated, we can enjoy the holiday season. When you’re in the family unit among people who are vaccinated, I think you should just enjoy the holidays as best you can in the family spirit.”
But Fauci had more restrictions in mind for the unvaccinated, first demanding that “for those who are not vaccinated, first, I would encourage them very strongly to get vaccinated.” He then said that unvaccinated individuals “in a public indoor setting” should “wear a mask.” Backtracking on his own previous statements, Fauci claimed that “masks work” in stopping the spread of the Chinese coronavirus.
“Not only will it be good for your own health and that of your family,” Fauci continued, “it will make it much easier for you to enjoy the kinds of things in society that you would like to enjoy anyway.”
When host Chris Wallace asked Fauci for his opinion on Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R-Texas) ordering that no entity in the state of Texas can enforce vaccine mandates, Fauci described the decision as “really unfortunate.” Fauci then said to “look at the data and look at the difference between people who get vaccinated versus people who are unvaccinated,” despite not actually citing any evidence.
Fauci had previously said that it was “too soon to tell” if Americans could go back to celebrating Christmas and other year-end holidays. After widespread backlash, he reversed himself and encouraged Americans to get together for Christmas.