Patrick Christys: Omicron may well be a silver bullet, fingers crossed it is

A bit of early Christmas cheer, everybody, the latest figures appear to show that Omicron is milder.

Early evidence suggests fewer people are needing hospital treatment than with other variants - with estimates ranging from a 30% to a 70% reduction.

The researchers said they were seeing a roughly two-thirds reduction in the number needing hospital care.

The latest study from South Africa showed people were 70-80% less likely to need hospital treatment.

Apparently there is a 40% reduction in needing to stay in hospital for more than a day.

Even Professor Pantsdown Neil Ferguson said, and I’m quoting, ‘this is clearly good news, to a degree’ - that’s the equivalent of him taking his top off and dancing around singing Celebrate Good Times.

Although I probably shouldn’t use that analogy with Professor Pantsdown, after all this is the guy who predicted millions of deaths and was so worried about the whole thing that he had to go and meet his married lover to blow off a bit of steam at the height of the first wave.

It’s fair to say that he got a first class honours from the Matt Hancock school of Social Distancing, didn’t he.

To be fair on Boris Johnson, he does appear to have stuck to his guns for now and rediscovered his libertarian roots.

He has ruled out any more restrictions before Christmas.

This is despite what Chris Whitty is telling him. Of course, Whitty, whose own Wikipedia page describes his personal life as being ‘private, single and having no children’, must be crippled with fear at the idea of advising this nation stay in isolation.

Although to be fair I have heard he’s the first person to always offer to do Christmas shifts at the NHS so he has always been personally on the front line of this thing.

Anyway, we’re standing on the precipice of a January lockdown. It looks like it’s going to happen but ultimately it’s down to Boris Johnson to sign off on that.

And here we have an opportunity, ladies and gentlemen. After all, this is the man who, when deciding whether or not to back Brexit, wrote two letters - one backing Remain, one backing Leave. A pros and cons list, if you will, and he was ultimately swayed by the way the political and public wind was blowing.

So blow that wind. If you don’t want any more restrictions, if you don’t want a January lockdown, write to him. Inundate the Downing Street letterbox with your opposition to another lockdown. Take to twitter, take to the streets, as indeed tens of thousands did at the weekend.

The benefit of having a man in charge who is easily swayed is that we can sway him.

So make your voice heard.

I tell you what wound me up earlier, Tony Blair coming out and saying that anyone who doesn’t have the vaccine is an idiot. Now, you may well think that anyone who doesn’t have the jab is an idiot, I personally don’t think that, for what it’s worth I am vaccinated but I believe deeply in bodily autonomy and I don’t think it’s right to call the unvaccinated idiots.

Aside from whether or not you think that people who haven’t had the jab are idiots, the fact is that Tony Blair calling them idiots, isn’t going to convince anyone to get vaccinated.

You can picture it now can’t you - We at the vaccination centre…’First jab, Sir?’ ‘Yes, well I was fundamentally morally opposed to taking this vaccine and managed to ignore the public and societal pressure for me to get one throughout numerous different waves of this pandemic, but then Tony Blair called me an idiot and now here I am, stick it in my arm sunshine.’

‘Oh? Tony Blair, you say? Which Tony Blair is that?’

‘Oh, you know Tony…no weapons of mass destruction, Tony. Wanted to bring us into the Euro, Tony. Secret deals with the IRA for amnesty, Tony. Yeh, that Tony…I mean, there’s not way that man could possibly ever be on the wrong side of history is there, so jab me up, Scotty.’

We’ve got to give credit where credit is due to Boris. Christmas is on and he hasn’t gone absolutely mental, an accusation that could arguably be leveled at Wales’ Mark Drakeford. The rules in Wales currently mean that you get fined for going into the office, but you’re allowed to go to the pub. So, in theory, you could move your office to the pub and you’d be fine, but if you nip back in to the workplace to pick up your laptop charger you’re now a criminal.

Although, to be fair, Drakeford is a socialist so in reality he probably doesn’t want anyone to have a job anyway and instead of a four day week, he’s upped the anti and gone for a no day week. No doubt Barry Island will look like Cuba-on-Sea within weeks.

Look, it appears that Omicron may well be a silver bullet. Fingers crossed it is. I’ve had enough of fear, I’ve had enough of doom mongering, I’ve had enough of economic damage. At some point I may well have to look my future children in the eye and justify why I went along with a situation that meant this country was left so riddled with debt that they have to pay for it. And I can no longer justify that.

Christmas is on. It’s on like Omicron. Have a good one everybody.