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CDC releases 2021 holiday guidance to prevent spread of COVID-19

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released its official public health guidance for the 2021 holiday season, offering up mostly general advice on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The recommendations urge people to get vaccinated ahead of the holidays if they haven’t done so already. For young children who aren’t yet eligible for the vaccine, the CDC suggests reducing risk of exposure by making sure the people around them are vaccinated.

The CDC also recommends that people continue to wear masks indoors in public spaces.

“We fully expect that families and friends will gather for the holidays this year and we have updated our guidance on how to best to stay safe over the holidays,” the agency wrote in a statement. “The best way to minimize COVID risk and ensure that people can safely gather is to get vaccinated or get the booster if you’re eligible.”

The holiday guidance is notably less prescriptive than last year, when vaccines were not available to the general public.

In 2020, for example, the CDC warned against traditional trick-or-treating by knocking on doors and instead suggested individually wrapped goodie bags that families could “grab and go” from a distance.

This year, the CDC doesn’t provide holiday-specific advice. However, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has said she thinks trick-or-treating can be done safely if kids stay outdoors and stick to small groups.

“If you’re able to be outdoors, absolutely,” Walensky told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

When it comes to big family gatherings, the CDC suggests “additional precautions” such as testing in advance or avoiding crowded indoor spaces before making the trip.

The 2021 guidance follows some confusion earlier this month when the CDC provided a technical update to its website that appeared to be its new recommendations for the season. The agency later removed the page, which was outdated.

Holidays have been a major driver of the pandemic, with hospitalizations and deaths spiking to its highest levels following the 2020 holiday season. Last January, the death toll peaked at around 3,600 people per day.

Those numbers plummeted following the rollout of vaccinations, only to surge again this summer with the arrival of the delta variant sickening unvaccinated populations.

According to CDC data collected from hospitals and state health officials last August, an unvaccinated person was 11 times more likely to die from COVID than a vaccinated person.

Health officials are again warning caution ahead of this holiday season so cases don’t spike again, although vaccines have made gatherings considerably safer.

One bright spot for families of children who remain ineligible for the vaccine: Federal regulators are expected to greenlight shots for kids as young as 5 in early November.

The dose of the Pfizer pediatric shot is a third smaller than the dose given to adults, but would still require two shots three weeks apart. And like adults, a child would not be considered immunized until two weeks after their second shot.In a private phone call Tuesday with the nation’s governors, the White House said states should prepare to begin vaccinating elementary-school-aged kids against COVID-19 in early November and that it would work with local health officials in the coming days to identify which sites will receive the first doses.

In audio obtained by ABC News, White House officials told the governors it had enough pediatric doses on hand for the 28 million children ages 5 through 11 expected to become eligible once federal regulators give the green light.

Once that happens, the pediatric Pfizer vaccine will be distributed in 100-dose packs. The doses, which are about a third of what is given to adults, will be sent to thousands of sites, including pediatricians, family doctors, hospitals, health clinics and pharmacies enrolled in a federal program that guarantees the shots are provided for free.

Some states are planning to provide the vaccine through schools as well.

“We’ve secured plenty of supply, and we’ll be putting in place an allocation, ordering and distribution system similar to what we’ve used for the other vaccines,” said President Joe Biden’s White House COVID coordinator, Jeff Zients, on the phone call to governors.

Zients said states should expect an initial rush for shots and ensure parents can easily schedule appointments.

“It’s important that all of us recognize that parents have been waiting for a pediatric vaccine for a long time so they will understandably be very eager to get their kids vaccinated or kids vaccinated right away,” he said.

Pfizer’s study on elementary-school-aged kids included 4,500 volunteers from the U.S., Finland, Poland and Spain. Precise details on the effectiveness of the vaccines in clinical trials involving kids has not been publicly released, although Pfizer says the study showed the smaller dosage was safe and effective.

In a private phone call Tuesday with the nation’s governors, the White House said states should prepare to begin vaccinating elementary-school-aged kids against COVID-19 in early November and that it would work with local health officials in the coming days to identify which sites will receive the first doses.

Some states are planning to provide the vaccine through schools as well.

Zients said states should expect an initial rush for shots and ensure parents can easily schedule appointments.

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