Rochesterians on whether they plan to wear masks for Thanksgiving

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — Both Western New York and the Finger Lakes region lead the entire state when it comes to the current COVID-19 positivity rate. With Thanksgiving just about a week away state and county leaders are hoping family gatherings won’t create another spike in cases.

News10NBC hit the streets Tuesday night to find out if the virus is affecting holiday plans. This time last year, many families either had smaller gatherings or canceled their celebrations altogether. People we talked to Tuesday said they have similar plans.

Gov. Kathy Hochul continues to push for a safe and virus-free holiday season. During a press conference in Buffalo, she said, "I wanna celebrate Thanksgiving safely. I want to know that when we get together that we’re not gonna get one of our loved ones sick. We all went through this anxiety a year ago."

News10NBC talked to a few Rochesterians and asked them if they plan to wear a mask as they gather with their family on Thanksgiving Day.

Gabby Felter told us, "Most likely not, because we’re all vaccinated, and we do, do the distancing you know, but as I said since we’re all vaccinated, and we all know each other we feel pretty safe without our masks."

Rebecca Quiroz added, "Most of my siblings are already vaccinated. I trust them. I’m very safe when it comes to who I’m around."

We asked what would happen if an unvaccinated guest attended the gathering.

"If they were a close family it would be hard to turn them away, but we would put our masks back on," Donna Ehmann said.

Akechukwu Kalagbor is fully vaccinated but isn’t going to any Thanksgiving Day gatherings. If he does, he says he would certainly wear a mask.

"To protect my family, and to protect the other people that are there, also to keep myself safe. I have a grandma at home. We’re all vaccinated. She’s vaccinated too, but like the Delta variant is scary. Just want to keep everyone safe," Kalagbor said.

As far as booster shots are concerned?

Brandon Perez said, "Maybe not before Thanksgiving. I mean kind of see how that plays out, and then maybe get it. Use everyone as guinea pigs, and then get it myself."

Out of most of the people we interviewed, we asked if young unvaccinated children will be at their gatherings, and they all said no.