As he returns to the area to visit with children after a year of major COVID-19 precautions, Santa Claus is certain to be pumped full of Cincinnati chili, goetta and Graeter's ice cream this holiday season.
Parents, however, may want to know if the jolly old St. Nick who could come in close contact with their child has been pumped with something else: the COVID-19 vaccine.
There are many businesses, organizations and agencies that will host Santa Claus in Greater Cincinnati this season. But the answer to whether or not they require visiting Santas to be fully vaccinated varies.
The question persists even amid a Santa Claus shortage, the latest casualty from a beaten-down supply chain that has existed in the wake of the pandemic.
Cherry Hill Programs, a holiday experience provider that has a network of more than 1,300 Santas across the United States – including three in Cincinnati – required its employees to be vaccinated by Oct. 14, spokeswoman Hope Horwitz told The Enquirer. The company does grant religious and medical exemptions to the mandate, she said, but COVID-19 testing for individuals granted an exemption is required.
Cherry Hill provides Santas to Big Lots on Colerain Avenue, the Eastgate Mall in Union Township, and to the Kenwood Towne Centre.
