Omicron and social gatherings. Here’s 4 questions to ask before you go

Experts warn that Canadians should cut back on social contacts in the coming weeks, due to the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

With cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant of climbing each day in many provinces, health experts are once again advising Canadians to cut back on their social contacts — warning that two doses of vaccine don’t provide the same protection that they used to.

Grandparents Pat and Karen Ferguson are approaching this holiday season with care.

“With an immunocompromised daughter and a newborn baby coming into our house on a regular basis, we’re extremely cautious,” Pat Ferguson, from Amherstburg, Ont., told Global News.

“Nobody’s allowed in our house that hasn’t been at least triple vaxxed,” he said. “Our immediate bubble is just my two daughters, two sons-in-law, and the baby. We have our groceries ordered in and stuff like that, but we’ve done that all along.”

Holidays usually mean seeing friends and family and attending parties and other social events. While current public health regulations still allow many of these things, experts warn that you should carefully consider the risks of socializing with others as COVID-19 cases grow.

“We have to constantly remind each other that at the end of the day, we don’t want anybody to get sick,” Karen Ferguson said.

Here are some questions to ask before you go to a restaurant, visit with friends or attend an event.

This is an important thing to think about, said Thomas Tenkate, an associate professor in the school of occupational and public health at Ryerson University. He suggests you consider whether you have risk factors for severe illness, such as underlying health conditions, or if you’re immunocompromised.