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Mayors Already Canceling Holiday Festivities for 2021

The news comes as two very promising vaccine announcements have been made in as many weeks.

Over the course of the last few weeks, several excellent bits of news have arrived in the realm of COVID-19, but these promising tidbits may not be enough to bring any really normalcy back to our nation for several years to come.

First was the news that Pfizer, along with partner BioNtech, had developed a vaccine for the virus that proved to be 90% effective in clinical trials.  For reference, anything over 50% effective would be considered astounding, making Pfizer’s announcement incredibly hopeful.

Then came an even wilder bit of news:  Moderna had developed a vaccine that was 95% effective, which reinvigorated the spirits of Americans who’ve been living in some form of enhanced solitude for nearly 9 months.

The Mayor of New Orleans, however, isn’t so convinced that these announcements are going be able to her city’s biggest weekend of the year.

Parades will be prohibited at New Orleans’ Mardi Gras celebration in 2021 to limit the spread of the coronavirus, Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s office said Tuesday.

Typically marked by parades and parties, the holiday is the city’s biggest tourism draw.

“Mardi Gras … [is] a season of traditions that we celebrate every year, a time that the community comes together in formal, fun, and often unexpected ways,” the mayor’s office said in a statement. “With COVID-19 cases increasing around the country, we will have to modify how to observe carnival season … We are surrounded by hot spots and we don’t know what the future holds in store for us.”

The mayor’s move comes after the Krewe du Vieux, one of the city’s most popular Carnival organizations, announced last week that it would not parade in 2021.

The mayor’s office has reached out to the public for help, asked New Orleans’ residents to suggest ideas safe and innovative ways in which the city can celebrate.

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