You better not pout, because Santa Claus is still coming to town this year! That’s all thanks to Dr. Anthony Fauci, who assured children he personally vaccinated jolly old Saint Nick in time for the holidays. 

What You Need To Know

  • Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, assured children that he personally vaccinated Santa Claus against COVID-19

  • Fauci appeared on "The ABC's of COVID-19: A CNN/Sesame Street Town Hall for Families" on Sunday 

  • As of Sunday, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Inc. both have approved COVID-19 vaccinations that are being shipped and administered around the country

Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, joined "The ABC's of COVID-19: A CNN/Sesame Street Town Hall for Families" on Sunday, an event geared towards helping children understand how to stay safe and healthy during the holiday season. 

Dr. Fauci, who will continue under President-elect Joe Biden as the White House’s Chief Medical Adviser, took questions from children across the country in the lead-up to Christmas Day. Many of the children had one question at the top of their minds: is it safe for Santa Claus to deliver their presents amid the pandemic? 

“How did Santa get the vaccine and is it safe for him to go in the house?” asked 8-year-old Lucy from San Rafael, California.

“How can Santa Claus safely give out presents with COVID-19 spreading everywhere? How can he do it?” wondered Connor, a 9-year-old from New Jersey. 

But Fauci assured the young listeners he “took care of that for you because I was worried that you all would be upset.” 

“So what I did a little while ago, I took a trip up to the North Pole, I went there, and I vaccinated Santa Claus myself,” Fauci said on Sunday. “I measured his level of immunity and he is good to go. He can come down the chimney, he can leave the presents, and you have nothing to worry about. Santa Claus is good to go.” 

News of Santa’s vaccination came a little over a week after the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and Germany’s BioNTech was shipped out, and days after regulators approved Moderna’s vaccine, which began shipping Sunday. 

Also on Sunday, a federal advisory committee reccomended that people 75 and older and essential workers should be next in line for COVID-19 shots.

Dr. Fauci also listened as children across the country wondered if it would be safe to travel for Christmas. Four-year-old Freddie wanted to know if he could give his grandma “a hundred hugs” on the holiday. 

"I think if you're in the immediate household... and it's not someone who's maybe coming in and traveling ... yeah you can give them hugs,” Dr. Fauci answered, warning that families still need to be conscious of those who may have been exposed to the virus through their travels. 

As cases of the coronavirus pandemic continue to surge across the country, the CDC is urging Americans not to travel for the winter holidays, saying “the safest way to celebrate the winter holidays is to celebrate at home with people who live with you.”

Over the past week alone, the United States has seen at least 1.6 million new cases of COVID-19, according to CDC tallies.