New York Times ridiculed for Thanksgiving Covid advice telling kids to eat quickly

‘Pure insanity’ said social media users

(Getty Images)

Advice recommending kids “eat quickly” at Thanksgiving dinner to protect relatives from Covid has been called “pure insanity” and “dumb” by Twitter users.

A New York Times article that offered suggestions to reduce health risks over the holidays featured an expert calling on kids that aren’t fully vaccinated to "eat quickly."

The article published a question from a San Franciso reader, who asked:

"If our child, 9, and a cousin, 10, have each received one dose of the vaccine two weeks prior to Thanksgiving, is it safe for us to eat indoors? There will be about 20 guests, all vaccinated, and the 65 and older crowd have all received boosters.”

Virginia Tech engineering professor Dr Linsey Marr, who studies airborne transmission of viruses wrote in response.

"I’m glad to hear that the children and all guests are vaccinated. As the kids will not be fully vaccinated until two weeks after their second shot, I think some care is warranted, especially because some attendees are 65 and older and thus at greater risk of more serious breakthrough infections. You could have the kids wear masks, eat quickly and stay away from the older adults when eating,"

Social media users were quick to mock the advice.

One user wrote: “Presented Without Comment: The NYT suggests that partially vaccinated kids be ordered to “eat quickly” at Thanksgiving in order to protect vaccinated people from covid” to which another user responded: “The covid fear porn is never leaving for some of these people. This is pure insanity.”

A third said: “The dumb hurts. At some point, we’re just going to have to acknowledge that some people have completely lost their minds.”