anticipated and what we have been preparing for. i know there are a lot of questions about the omicron variant, how to protect yourselves, our loved ones, how to safely gather with our family and friends over the holidays, and you have heard me say before, we know what works against covid-19. and it s critically important that we implement our proven multilayer prevention strategies. let me reiterate those four prevention measures for you. get vaccinated. get boosted. wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial and high risk community transmission, and take a test before you gather. i know many parents are wondering how they can keep their children safe for the holidays. if your child is 5 or older, get them vaccinated and if they are younger than 5 years, surround them with adults and siblings who are vaccinated, boosted if eligible, and masking in public indoor settings. i also want to be sure people
ourselves against covid 19, we have vaccine, we have boosters, we know multilayer prevention strategies, masks and public indoor settings, practicing physical distancing are vitally important especially as we prepare for more omicron and even if you are vaccinated. laura: this is why people are still hesitant to get the vaccine, because you get the vaccine, you get boosted and according to the cdc you should socially distance and still wear masks most of the time when you are indoors. no wonder people said we are not doing it anymore. certainly a great amount of covid fatigue out there and that is one of the reasons the biden administration has settled on this strategy that the only way out of this is to vaccinate out, mandate vaccines and by doing that even though some of the
test to stay is an encouraging public health practice to keep our children in school, and cdc is updating our materials to help schools and parents know how to best implement this promising and now proven practice along with our multilayered prevention strategy that will help keep our children in the classroom safely. importantly, vaccination is another critical piece in our multilayer prevention strategies to protect our children from covid-19. i d like to take another moment. to encourage parents to get their children vaccinated. just yesterday, cdc s advisory committee on immunization practices met to discuss new safety data following six weeks of covid-19 vaccinations in children between the ages of 5 to 11. we now have experience vaccinating over 20 million children under the age of 17 and over 5 million of whom are under the age of 11. looking specifically at vaccine