Tucker: Omicron paving the way for more vaccines, lockdowns
'Tucker Carlson Tonight' host weighs in on the latest COVID mutation.
By now, you've probably heard of the terrifying new coronavirus variant that has left the continent of Africa smoldering husk of human misery. Experts are calling it the omicron variant, omicron being a Greek term that apparently means history-ending apocalypse. Even in Africa, a part of the world sadly familiar with suffering, omicron is like nothing the authorities have ever seen.
Consider the nation of Botswana, a landlocked country in southern Africa about the size of France. Yesterday, officials there reported that two people may possibly have died from the omicron variant. Now it's true that many more people in Botswana died yesterday from malaria, AIDS, diarrhea, drowning car crashes, choking on peanuts, domestic disputes, agricultural accidents and also just because in the end, human beings tend to get old and die.
BIDEN SAYS OMICRON VARIANT IS ‘CAUSE FOR CONCERN, NOT A CAUSE FOR PANIC’
Statistically, that is a valid observation, but it does not lessen the existential terror of the rest of us feel knowing that omicron exists. No, it certainly doesn't. As the chairman of the Federal Reserve announced yesterday, thanks to Omicron and not at all due to the criminally reckless decisions that he has made personally, thanks to omicron, our economy is going to be terrible for a long time, and we're definitely going to need a lot of mail-in ballots in the coming mid-term elections for your safety, of course. And vaccines, yes, we're going to need a lot more vaccines. In addition to the two you probably already had, you're going to need a third vaccine at least. Pfizer's orders.
JIM CRAMER: With the new omicron variant sweeping the globe, how do we finally put an end to this pandemic? How do we save lives and get business back to normal so everybody can put dinner on the table? Simple. The federal government needs to require vaccines, including booster shots for everyone in America by, say, January 1st. … So it’s time to admit that we have to go to war against COVID. Require vaccination universally, have the military run it. If you don’t want to get vaccinated you better be ready to prove your conscientious objector status in court. And even then you need to help in the war effort by staying home until we finally beat this thing.
Yeah, have the military run it, the U.S. Army is going to force you to get your third injection. That's how serious omicron is - this from the guy who demanded you keep your money in Bear Stearns five days before it disappeared completely. So you can definitely trust what he's saying. This stuff is scary. The national media are highly upset about omicron. This is their deep concern:
CNN, DR. LEANA WEN: I believe that states and local jurisdictions and businesses that have let go of indoor mask mandates, they should bring it back as well as an additional step to protect against omicron.
MSNBC REPORTER: They are preparing and preparing for the worst potentially. We heard the president urging people to go get their booster shot.
CNN, RICHARD QUEST: I do see targeted lockdowns for omicron, those for the unvaccinated. I see many more restrictions being introduced for the unvaccinated, where they can go and how they can go.
CNN, DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER: I think we may indeed be in for a phase of many more masks, much more social distancing. And more restrictions and obligations for vaccination going forward.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Well, yeah. Look what's happening in Botswana tonight. So we're going to get more vaccines and "lockdowns" for anyone who resists getting the injection. And we're not joking this time. Omicron is here. It's a whole new pandemic.
This article is adapted from Tucker Carlson's opening commentary on the November 30, 2021 edition of "Tucker Carlson Tonight."