Unvaccinated relatives? Here are the risks around the Thanksgiving table

With Thanksgiving weekend just days away and COVID still spreading, experts say refusing to invite your unvaccinated relatives is the safer, smarter and more ethical option.

As Canadians decide what fixings to put on the table this Thanksgiving, many also face a different, more difficult decision: whether to invite unvaccinated family members to feast alongside them.

With Thanksgiving weekend just days away, experts say choosing not to invite your unvaccinated relatives is the safer, smarter and more ethical option — especially while kids can’t get a COVID-19 jab.

“The vaccines are really effective, but they’re most effective when you’re surrounded by vaccinated people,” said Dr. Matthew Miller, assistant dean at McMaster University’s department of biochemistry and biomedical sciences.

“If you introduce an unvaccinated person who might be infected into that group, then everyone’s risk of a breakthrough infection increases.”

While breakthrough cases among the vaccinated are rare, they do happen.

As of Sept. 18, Ontario alone said there had been just over 8,200 cases reported among the more than 10,000,000 fully vaccinated residents in the province.

Having that awkward conversation with your unvaccinated relative or friend is actually the most ethical thing you can do, according to bioethicist Vardit Ravitsky, who teaches at Université de Montréal and Harvard’s medical school.

“It’s absolutely reasonable, beyond reasonable. I think it’s totally ethical,” Ravitsky said. “I think the people who should worry about the ethical aspects of their decisions are those who choose not to be vaccinated.”