Vaccinations are the new VIP. Right now, the very best way to have a safe birthday party is to invite people who are fully vaccinated to the party, says Dr. William Li, MD, president and medical director of the Angiogenesis Foundation and author of Eat To Beat Disease. You could enact a rule that anyone who is unvaccinated can join the party, but must wear a mask, Li says. (Per the CDC’s latest guidance, if your party is indoors, and you live in an area of substantial or high transmission, it’s recommended that everyone wear a mask regardless of vaccination status.) However, there’s a lot of eating and drinking that happens at these types of get-togethers, which requires masks coming off and transmission risks going up, he points out. A better compromise, as Li suggests, would be to have a hybrid birthday party and those who aren’t vaccinated could join virtually.
