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Dr. Anthony Fauci weighs in on holiday risks, vaccines and testing as omicron surge continues

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. (Susan Walsh/AP)
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. (Susan Walsh/AP)

As the omicron variant continues to fuel a new surge of cases in the U.S. — with the one-week increase in cases up by nearly a third — Americans are scrambling to find over-the-counter COVID-19 tests and questioning how to keep their families safe over the holidays.

On Tuesday, President Biden addressed the country saying that vaccinated people who follow precautions should feel comfortable keeping their holiday plans. In contrast, a statement by the head of the World Health Organization said “an event canceled is better than a life canceled.”

Here & Now‘s Celeste Headlee checks in with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease doctor and advisor to Biden, to sort it all out.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.