President Joe Biden’s infectious disease adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN views on Monday that they should cancel plans for their New Year’s Eve parties due to the highly infectious Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus, unless they can verify that everyone at their party has been vaccinated and boosted for Covid-19.
The coronavirus has been raging around the world for two years, killing millions and upending the lives of survivors and even those who have remained free from its direct effects, but suffered policy, economic, emotional, and other hardships.
There’s no reason to celebrate if your party plans include any unvaccinated persons, Fauci said.
“I would stay away from that,” Fauci said, in response to a question on the “New Day” show. “I have been telling people consistently that if you’re vaccinated and boosted and you have a family setting, in the home with family and relatives,” it’s OK to gather. “But when you’re talking about a New Year’s Eve party … [where you] have 30, 40, 50 people celebrating, you do not know the status of their vaccination. I would recommend strongly stay away from that this year.”
Candidate Jamie Allard, running for District 22 Eagle River, said there’s much to celebrate and she’s hosting a New Year’s Eve party and fundraiser for her campaign at the Marriott. There will definitely be more than the Fauci-50 attending.
In fact, there may be hundreds. People from Kenai, Fairbanks, and all over Alaska are coming, she said.
“They’re excited and donations are pouring in, and I’m having to open up the other half of the ballroom, so we’ll have the entire floor,” she said.
Allard announced her candidacy for House at the beginning of the month and held a fundraiser at the Petroleum Club; it was attended by more than 180 people.
“In Dr. Fauci’s world, we would not have our campaign fundraisers, we would not be electing conservatives, and we would not be taking back our lives,” said Allard, who is a conservative member of the Anchorage Assembly representing Eagle River and Chugiak.
For her fundraiser at the Marriott Hotel, she reserved a block of rooms (“Allard for Alaska” discounted rooms) for people to rent for the night, and “they are already sold out,” Allard said.
“Let’s celebrate life while we are living it,” Allard said. “There’s no better way than New Year’s Eve.”