Plus, requiring vaccines for entrance in November doesn’t mean you can’t be kind. You’re still free to be gentle and patient and listen to your unvaccinated relatives’ concerns about getting the shot on the phone, before the holiday. If you live close enough, you can even meet up with them individually (while masked or distanced and outdoors) to make your pitch.

But it’s not fair to put others at risk of breakthrough infection by having these conversations at Thanksgiving. Family gatherings are places where people interact closely in a closed space, laughing, talking, and eating—ideal conditions for the virus to spread. There have been reports of people being diagnosed with breakthrough infections after attending weddings or parties with other fully vaccinated guests. That is, the risk of a vaccinated Thanksgiving is not zero. But that risk goes way up if there are unvaccinated attendees, who have a greater chance of carrying the virus and increase the risk that others may be infected—especially when community spread of the virus is high, which it is in most of the US.

By having a vaxxed-only holiday, you’ll be communicating that safety is so important to you that you’re willing to deal with some discomfort and inconvenience. Plus, it will serve as an incentive. The conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute concluded based on a survey conducted in May this this type of positive peer pressure may be more powerful than partisan motivation when it comes to pushing people to get people vaccinated.