The second time in two years, COVID-19 has muzzled the joy of the Christmas season, leaving people across the globe with two options: cancel holiday gatherings and trips or figure out ways to forge ahead as safely as possible.

The omicron variant of COVID-19– first detected in South Africa– has once again sent people scrambling for safety, dampening the Xmas plans.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus put it starkly this week when he said that “an event canceled is better than a life canceled”, according to reports from Associated Press.

People walk past an illuminated church ahead of Christmas in Ahmedabad, India. (Photo Credit: Associated Press)
A person wearing a mask looks at a stand at a Christmas market for a Santa Claus hat in Vienna. (Photo Credit: Associated Press)
A woman walks around Vienna’s biggest Christmas market. (Photo Credit: Associated Press)
A girl looks at the Lee’s Summit Magic Tree in Missouri. (Photo Credit: Associated Press)
Security guards look at the vaccination passes at the entrance of a Christmas market. (Photo Credit: Associated Press)