As people celebrate another holiday season this year amid COVID-19 concerns, Dr. Anthony Fauci said during an interview on MSNBC that people should ask their unvaccinated family members not to visit.
“If someone in your family isn’t vaccinated should you ask them not to show up?” Alicia Menendez asked.
“Yes,” Fauci said. “I would do that.”
Fauci said that he believes there is “a serious enough situation right now that if there’s an unvaccinated person I would say, ‘I’m very sorry, but not this time. Maybe another time when this is all over.'”
Dr. Fauci On COVID Surge: Unvaxxed Are ‘Very Vulnerable’ www.youtube.com
People pushed back against Fauci’s comments on social media.
“No. This is not how families work,” Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tweeted.
“Communists have always specialized in dividing and turning family members against each other,” Rachel Campos-Duffy tweeted.
“This is insane!” another person tweeted.
Fauci, who will turn 81-years-old on Christmas Eve, is the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden and has served as the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director for well over three decades.
During a different interview, Jonathan Karl of ABC News asked Fauci whether he feels a responsibility to continue working until the situation is under control.
“Absolutely John, there’s no doubt about it,” Fauci said. “There’s no way I’m gonna walk away from this until we get this under control.”
“You know we’re in a war John. It’s kind of like we’re halfway through World War II and you decide, well I think I’ve had enough of this, I’m walking away. You can’t do that, you gotta finish it. And we’re gonna finish this and get back to normal,” Fauci said.