With Christmas all but cancelled in parts of the world, many children have become increasingly worried that Santa might not be able to get their presents this year. Those who are perhaps a tad morbidly inclined have also voiced their concerns that Santa's advanced age might make him more susceptible to COVID-19. Not to mention, his extensive travel plans aren't exactly the flavour of this holiday season.
Now, we're not sure how convinced you are about Santa's existence. But the World Health Organisation assures that Father Christmas' gifting schedule will progress as per usual. And his entry has even been cleared by world leaders who will be relaxing quarantine measures to allow Santa to enter their airspace.
"I can tell you that Santa Claus is immune to this virus. We had a brief chat with him and he is doing very well. Mrs. Claus is doing very well," assures Maria Van Kerkhove. She is the COVID-19 Technical Lead for the WHO, and one would assume that children can taken her at her word.
Quite understandably, they are rather busy at this time. And as Kerkhove notes, with quarantine measures relaxed, Santa "will be able to travel in and out of the airspace and be able to deliver presents to children".
But not every child is primarily concerned about their odds of getting presents. One six-year-old boy from Glanmire in Ireland for example recently wrote to Pfizer wondering if it would be possible for the company to send vaccines to Santa and his elves. Another child said that all he wanted for Christmas was for everyone to get a vaccine.
Albert Bourla, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pfizer recently took to LinkedIn sharing both the short letters.
According to reports, Pfizer had written back to the boy seeking vaccines for Santa. The letter thanked Callum for his encouraging comments on vaccine development and said that they had been in touch with Mr and Mrs Claus and the elves. Reiterating the WHO's remarks, Pfizer said that they were safe and well, and were set to deliver presents on Christmas Eve as usual.
And in news that is likely to reassure many children, it would seem that all children are on Santa's 'good' list this year. Pfizer after all, is in touch with Father Christmas himself.
