You are NOT a Horse!

Animal Medicine

FDA tells Americans to stop taking an animal dewormer for Covid by explaining that “you are not a horse”.  The agency issued warnings after misinformation about ivermectin, a medicine used to deworm livestock, spread on right-wing social media. Incredible. Ivermectin can be deadly. The drug is not approved to treat or prevent COVID-19.

Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said:

“I think some people are trying to use it as a [COVID-19] preventative, which I think is really kind of crazy, so please don’t do that. You wouldn’t get your chemotherapy at a feed store. You wouldn’t treat your pneumonia with your animal’s medication. It can be dangerous to get the wrong doses of medication, especially for something that’s meant for a horse or a cow. It’s really important, if people have medical needs, go through your physician or provider.”

Mississippi and Alabama health officials are warning residents not to take ivermectin. It is for livestock and will poison people. Ranchers use ivermectin to eradicate or prevent parasites in livestock. Mississippi’s Health Department flatly stated in a Facebook post:

“Do not use ivermectin products made for animals. Animal doses are not safe for humans. At least 70% of the recent calls have been related to ingestion of livestock or animal formulations of ivermectin purchased at livestock supply centers.”

These anti-vaxxers will take a dewormer instead of a safe vaccine. Do they go to a doctor or veterinarian? Good grief.

FDA Approval

Prior to yesterday, COVID-19 vaccines were administered under emergency use authorization. Now, the FDA granted full approval to Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for people 16 and up. The approval comes as the pandemic has intensified because of the highly infectious Delta variant. The only thing that will help are vaccinations. As Americans face a surge of Covid-19 hospitalizations — with the rates for children and adults under 50 hitting their highest levels yet — full approval of the vaccines could encourage more people to get vaccinated.

Experts and the Biden administration hopes the development will motivate Americans who are eligible for shots to get them. In fact, a recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that three of every 10 unvaccinated people said that they would be more likely to get vaccinated with a shot that had been fully approved.

The FDA approval will cause vaccine requirements for hospitals, colleges, corporations and first responders. For example, the Pentagon said it would mandate the shots for the country’s 1.3 million active-duty troops. Over the past week, about 1,000 Americans per day have died of Covid; vaccination would have saved more than 95 percent of them.