Majority of Americans Plan to Spend Thanksgiving with People Outside Their Household

The vast majority of Americans plan to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with individuals outside of their immediate household, an Ipsos/Axios survey released Tuesday found.

Overall, 67 percent of Americans plan to see people outside of their immediate household for Thanksgiving, regardless of the vaccination status of themselves or others, representing a shift from last year, as public health officials warned Americans against large gatherings.

This year, less than one-third view large gatherings as a moderate or large risk, indicating that concern over the Chinese coronavirus is waning, as that figure stood at 64 percent last year.

Per the poll:

• Nearly one in three (30%) who plan to see friends or family from outside their household are seeing someone who is unvaccinated during Thanksgiving. Another one in five (20%) will be with someone who is considered high risk for contracting COVID-19.
• Gathering with someone who is unvaccinated jumps to 56% among the unvaccinated, compared to 22% among the vaccinated.
• Regardless of vaccination status, similar shares will be dining with someone who is high risk.

The survey coincides with last week’s update from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which said it expects holiday air travel to rebound, nearing pre-pandemic levels. The federal agency estimates “about 20 million passengers during the Thanksgiving holiday” — up from the 9.5 million recorded the year prior.

When asked in October to provide guidelines for the holidays, Dr .Anthony Fauci said that fully vaccinated Americans should enjoy the coming holidays and used the opportunity to vehemently push vaccinations across the board.

“When you do that [get vaccinated], there’s no reason at all why you can’t enjoy the holidays in a family way, the way we’ve traditionally done it all along,” he told ABC’s Martha Raddatz at the time. 

However, last week, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases head suggested that individuals, even if vaccinated, should be wearing a mask in congregate settings if they are among people who are not vaccinated.