Dr. Fauci Told Kids Worried About A Very Unusual Christmas That He Vaccinated Santa Claus

Dr. Anthony Fauci has been the superstar of the nation’s pandemic response team. He’s the voice of reason, the one who knows how to stand up to Trump without inspiring his wrath (well, not always), the adult in the room. Speaking of which, he had a message for kids who are about to experience the weirdest and possibly worst Christmas since the pandemic of 1918: Don’t worry, Santa Claus is among the lucky few who’ve been vaccinated.

Dr.Fauci was on CNN fielding questions from the nation’s young children, who are worried about things like seeing relatives during the holidays and how much getting vaccinated will hurt. He was his usual laidback, charming, smiling, reassuring self, able to explain scary and complicated data in ways that were both clear and lacking in condescension. But he also knew the value of preserving their childhood, which is to say he wasn’t about to tell them that You Know Who isn’t, you know, real.

“I took care of that for you, because I was worried you’d all be upset,” he said to one kid’s question about St. Nick. “So a little while ago I took a trip up there to the North Pole. I went there and I vaccinated Santa Claus myself. I measured his level of immunity, and he is good to go. He can come down the chimney, he can leave the presents, he can leave and you have nothing to worry about. Santa Claus is good to go.”

You can watch more of Dr. Fauci’s CNN appearance in the video below, and it’s worth noting that more kids will likely take his advice some actual adults — the ones who’ve thrown temper tantrums about putting a piece of cloth over the mouth and nose, leading to the nightmarish spike we’re living through each and every day. But hey, at least Santa’s doing fine!

(Via CNN)