Christmas canceled? Dr. Fauci says COVID surge means Christmas won't be 'any different' than Thanksgiving

First it was Thanksgiving, now it's Christmas.

According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, if the trajectory of coronavirus cases continues to surge, then Americans should skip their Christmas celebrations this year.

What is Fauci saying?

"If the surge takes a turn of continuing to go up and you have the sustained greater than 100,000 infections a day and 1,300 deaths per day and the count keeps going up and up ... I don't see it being any different during the Christmas and New Year's holidays than during Thanksgiving," Fauci told USA Today.

In fact, Fauci said his family has already scrapped their Christmas plans.

"For my own family, I'm saying we had a really great Thanksgiving and Christmas last year. We're looking forward to a really great Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2021," he said.

"Let's now make the best of the situation and show our love and affection for people by keeping them safe," Fauci added.

What about a vaccine?

The potential cancelation of Christmas comes despite the fact that a COVID-19 vaccine will likely begin initial distribution within weeks. Pfizer, whose vaccine is reportedly up to 95% effective, says it can have tens of millions of vaccine doses ready by December.

Pfizer applied for emergency approval with the FDA last week.

Ahead of Thanksgiving, states run by Democratic governors began issuing new COVID-related restrictions that essentially prevented traditional family gatherings on Thanksgiving.

However, law enforcement in states like New York and California bucked the restrictions, saying they would not enforce the new orders on Thanksgiving.