'I vaccinated Santa personally': Fauci promises Christmas cheer to kids

Anthony Fauci, thetop US infectious diseases expert, has assured children he won't let their visit from Santa be affected in this pandemic, promising them their gifts will be delivered like every year.

During an interview with a local news channel, Fauci happily assured children that he "took care of that for you because I was worried that you’d all be upset".

He also made sure the smart children do not doubt his intentions. Talking about how did he assure their safety, he claimed he took a trip to the North Pole to vaccinate Santa Claus personally. "So what I did 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," he said jokingly.

While he assured children that a visit from Santa would be safe, he also urged kids and the parents to minimize their outings and make sure they follow all coronavirus-related guidelines. "You still need to be careful and wear a mask. Because until we get this blanket of protection over everyone, you can’t be absolutely certain that there isn’t virus there. So vaccines are extremely important to ending this outbreak," he said.

The US has now approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the novel coronavirus and has started mass vaccination drives. The outgoing Vice President Mike Pence also took a shot of the vaccine publically to motivate people to get vaccinated.

Talking about the vaccine, Faucisaid, "Until we get the full component of almost everyone vaccinated,we cannot abandon the common public health measure of wearing a mask. So yes, you still should be wearing a mask."