Anti-vaxx writer Alex Berenson drew outrage on Tuesday evening after comments on Tucker Carlson Tonight regarding vaccines against Covid-19.
The Fox News host introduced the segment by saying that cases of the coronavirus are “skyrocketing” in countries such as Denmark, Australia, and Israel, which have some of the highest rates of vaccination.
Mr Berenson joined the show telling Mr Carlson that the vaccines do not work against the Omicron variant of the virus and should be pulled from the market.
“We’re at a very dangerous moment, Tucker, and I’m not exaggerating. I think this is probably the most important appearance I’ve had with you in the last two years,” said Mr Berenson.
“It is completely clear now that the vaccines don’t really work at all against Omicron. In these highly-vaccinated and highly boosted countries, rates of infection are incredibly high and rates of serious disease and death are also rising.”
He continued: “The mRNA Covid vaccines need to be withdrawn from the market,” Berenson added. “No one should get them. No one should get boosted. No one should get double boosted. They are a dangerous and ineffective product at this point.”
Mr Berenson, who has been banned from Twitter for spreading vaccine misinformation and was dubbed as “the pandemic’s wrongest man” by The Atlantic in April 2021, has continuously pushed back on almost every Covid-19 measure, particularly the vaccines, since the start of the pandemic.
His latest statements and the platform afforded to him by Fox News quickly drew the ire of Twitter users.
“Fox News has given a platform to Alex Berenson and he has been wrong during the entire pandemic,” wrote Josh Jordan. “Not only has Berenson been wrong, but he’s been cashing in on the misinformation and there’s no doubt people have gotten sick and possibly died because of him and Fox News.”
“These lies put my family member in the hospital. They left him, either temporarily or permanently, extremely weakened,” tweeted WISC TV’s Naomi Kowles. “I support anyone’s 1st amendment right to say whatever they want, but there has got to be a way to stop killing people with free speech.”
David French, senior writer at The Dispatch, posted: “I wish some of the folks who are beyond livid about kids wearing masks in schools would spare just a tenth of their outrage for this deadly nonsense. Tens of thousands are dying because of vaccine refusal. These deaths are horrific, tragic, and so very avoidable.”
Brian Tyler Cohen wrote: “Killing his own viewers. No other way to spin it. People who watch his show will die as a result of this programming.”
Other comments described the segment as “criminal”, “a death panel”, and Mr Berenson as “an absolute nutter”.
The Independent has contacted Fox News for comment on Mr Berenson’s appearance on Mr Carlson’s show.
While the highly contagious Omicron variant has led to large spikes in Covid-19 cases in countries and regions where the vast majority of the population is vaccinated, the number of severe cases, hospitalisations, and deaths remains proportionally much lower thanks to the vaccine and booster shots.
Evidence from around the world shows that those in the hospital with Covid-19, and those who sadly died from the virus, are overwhelmingly unvaccinated.
Vaccinated people who contract Omicron tend to experience mild symptoms treatable at home and for a shorter period of time. Trials have now begun on an Omicron-specific version of the Pfizer vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publishes extensive data on the matter, summarised as people who were unvaccinated had a greater risk of testing positive and a greater risk of dying from Covid-19 than people who were fully vaccinated – across all ages groups.
Case and death rates for people fully vaccinated with any of the three vaccine types (Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen) were much lower than for unvaccinated people. Those with booster shots had even lower case rates and risk of death.
