FOX’s ‘Toast & Roast 2021’ Host Joel McHale Reveals New Year’s Hope for Americans Amid Coronavirus Pandemic (Exclusive)

To say 2020 was a challenging year for so many around the world is a significant understatement. But as the darkest timeline finally comes to a close with hope for a better tomorrow, so many of us are wishing for the best in 2021 — including Joel McHale, despite the actor and comedian previously joking he has “no emotions left.” Ahead of hosting FOX’s New Year’s Eve Toast & Roast 2021 with fellow funny-man Ken Jeong, McHale tells PopCulture.com he is looking forward to businesses getting back up and running with the help of vaccines.

Touting 2020 a “s­—show, as they would say,” McHale tells us in our series PopCulture @ Home that there is much to hope for in 2021 as pharmaceutical companies have worked around the clock to help millions get back on their feet. “We are still in this pandemic and even — thank God — we have those vaccines that are here and on the way; we need so many more,” he said. “My hope for the new year is that everyone gets vaccinated. If you are one of those people that doesn’t want to get vaccinated — get vaccinated. You got vaccinated for measles, did you not? You got vaccinated for polio, did you not? Yeah, so get vaccinated.”

Following reports by CNBC in September claiming 60% of business closures will now be permanent, McHale stresses vaccines will help “open up this country again” to benefit small businesses and the millions out of work. “I know that I usually joke about everything, but I really feel strongly about that,” the 49-year-old said, adding how with the U.S. now having “four vaccines on our hands here in a moment,” including AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, he too is looking forward to returning to work like so many.

With 19.9 million cases present in the United States and more than 344,000 deaths as of this writing per data from the Johns Hopkins University, the first vaccine by Pfizer/BioNTech was administered earlier this month during an emergency rollout ordered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, a COVID-19 vaccination will help keep you from getting the coronavirus. The center states all vaccines currently available in the U.S. are highly effective at preventing COVID-19. Meanwhile, all vaccines now in development are being thoroughly assessed in clinical trials and will be authorized only if they make it substantially less likely you’ll get COVID-19.

Early reports from those that have taken the vaccine are positive and without any side effects, making this a monumental step forward in helping bring an end to a pandemic that has crippled much of life in the U.S. and globally for a majority of the year. For information on how the CDC makes COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, head to their official website.

FOX’s New Year’s Eve Toast & Roast 2021, hosted by Joel and Ken, airs live on Dec. 31 from 8 p.m. ET to 10 p.m. ET and continues the second part of its broadcast from 11 p.m. ET to 12:30 a.m. ET, check your local listings. For more with Joel, Ken and all things FOX, keep it locked to PopCulture.com!