Doctors at St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport say it is more important now with rising COVID-19 cases and the Omicron variant to be extra careful this holiday season.

Dr. Steven Valassis, chair of emergency medicine, says there has been a spike in COVID-19 cases at St. Vincent's.

"If you have symptoms, you need to get tested and really avoid the holidays if you're not feeling well. You don't want to bring that to the holidays. That's not a gift you want to give anyone," said Valassis.

He says the most important thing is to have everyone on the same page.

"Letting people know that you're going to be safe, that you're going to wear your mask when you're out in public and in crowded spaces and protecting yourself so that you can go to the party with a better feeling that you're going to be OK," said Valassis.

Doctors at St. Vincent's now consider patients to be fully vaccinated only if they received the booster shot along with the one or two shots earlier in the year.

Doctors are recommending people get tested for COVID-19 before spending the holidays with family and friends to avoid potentially spreading the virus without knowing.