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CLEVELAND (WJW) – Cleveland Mayor-elect Justin Bibb is urging everyone to take precautions this holiday season as the omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to surge across Northeast Ohio.

In a video tweeted out early Christmas Eve, Bibb asks Cleveland residents to get vaccinated to help prevent further hospitalizations in Cuyahoga County.

“This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated, so this holiday season, please encourage your loved ones to get vaccinated or boosted. We must all take extra precautions to protect ourselves and others, especially folks 65 and over and people with chronic medical conditions,” Bibb said in the video.

He also asked residents to wear a mask, wash their hands and social distance when possible over the holidays.

“I know we can’t wait for this pandemic to be over, Cleveland, but we must take action now,” Bibb said.

The Ohio National Guard put its members on the ground in Cleveland Monday, helping to operate a COVID testing site in an effort to lessen the burden on hospitals as cases surge in Northeast Ohio.