AUGUST 18 — A reader wrote to me about my last column, saying that while he usually liked what I wrote this time he had to disagree with my ivermectin stance.
He wrote:
“If I were to lay out all my arguments against your take on the subject this note would be gargantuan so I’ll whittle it down to just this:
When someone is dying of Covid, Stage 5, no hope, would you not try anything at all to help them including giving them treatments that some say are effective but haven’t been approved yet by the governing bodies? Would you let them die rather than risk upsetting the authorities or going against the ‘rules’?”
While I understand the fear and anxiety, taking some unproven medication to ward off Covid is like eating antibiotics to try and prevent future bacterial infections — needless.
Drawing conclusions
Despite my abrasive online persona, no, I do not believe I am right all the time.
I do question my stances, second-guess my opinions and do my best to see if I should revisit my stance on many matters.
Yet it was not that hard for me to reject ivermectin.
Besides the fact that it is almost too easy to debunk any of the “ivermectin works!” studies and that the most quoted one has been withdrawn, some things are as clear as day if you’re not looking through the lens of fear.
Ivermectin is a poison.
Sure, most medication when taken in excessive amounts can cause severe harm but ivermectin’s purpose from the very beginning was to kill, not to cure.
SARS-CoV-2 is a virus; it is not a bot, nor is it a tick, mite or flea.
Ivermectin was created to kill parasites and while it has been used in humans for diseases such as scabies and river blindness, neither of those ailments are similar to Covid-19.
The biggest argument used to promote ivermectin is that it can kill some viruses but here’s the thing: for ivermectin to work on Covid-19, it would need huge doses that would likely kill the person taking them.
Stay isolated, stay safe
My father’s Covid-19 approach is pretty simple. “Stay healthy.”
It sounds simplistic but for him it means getting the vaccine, staying home with his mountains of books, eating the healthy diet he has maintained for decades (I would know) and well, not taking what he calls “horse pills.”
He firmly believes that so long as you take the vaccine and make the effort to live a healthy lifestyle, getting Covid-19 won’t be a death sentence.
It might seem like a very narrow, limited approach but it beats reading countless studies about miracle cures and getting anxious about vaccines “changing your DNA.”
My parents are of a generation where vaccines were seen as miracles. They witnessed firsthand how vaccines could mean the difference between life and death, especially for young children.
My friend’s mother walked for hours in the hot sun, carrying her children to the community clinic for their vaccines.
There is no way out of this pandemic without vaccines, no miracle cures or divine protection can keep the virus away.
To those of you stocking up on ivermectin, please give it to your nearest cat or dog owner instead or your neighbourhood vet.
Killing yourself to save yourself from a virus is really not the right way to go, or be remembered.
Choose life, choose being grateful you are still here right now and believe a better end will be waiting that doesn’t involve deworming pills.
*This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
