Instead of getting vaccinated against the coronavirus (COVID-19), some British Columbians are taking medication made for deworming livestock and horses.
On Tuesday (Aug. 31), Health Canada addressed reports of the use of veterinary ivermectin to prevent or treat COVID-19. The federal agency stated Canadians should never consume health products intended for animals because of “potential serious health dangers posed by them." While ivermectin is used in humans mostly for treating rare tropical diseases in developing countries, it has been recently touted by the right-wing on social media as a treatment and preventative measure against COVID-19.
As such, some feedstores in B.C.’s interior have been selling out of the product. Vancouver Is Awesome called around to several pet supply stores in Metro Vancouver and while the majority said they had not received inquiries about the drug, one store had.
Chandell Fraser works at the MrPets location on Commercial Drive and says over the past few weeks she has responded to a handful of calls asking about ivermectin. That handful, though, is the most attention she has seen the drug receive in over a year of working at the store.
However, at another MrPets location in Mission, store manager Monica Pierce says the drug is hard to keep in stock with the dramatic increase in sales.
“We have people coming in and buying it for purposes that are not maybe necessarily the right purposes," Pierce said. “I have little old ladies phoning me and asking me for it. It's pretty crazy."
While Pierce tells callers the ivermectin she sells is formulated for use in cattle and horses, not humans, she isn’t able to deny them purchasing the drug. Pierce says she isn’t able to take the drug off the shelves either as there are horse owners in the area who do need it.
"I definitely have asked people, 'are you using it for yourself?' And they're like, 'yeah, we're buying it for COVID,'” Pierce said, adding that her store also supplies others in the chain if ivermectin is ordered online.
‘An incredible disconnect’
Timothy Caulfield from the University of Alberta is a critic of alternative medicine and says this isn’t the first time a “miracle drug” has been lauded as the non-vaccine cure for COVID-19.
"It mirrors what went on with hydroxychloroquine. The evidence against it just became so overwhelming that they have decided to put their energy in a new miracle drug — and that's ivermectin and it's doing real harm,” Caulfield said.
Caulfield said there's a disconnect between those who won't get a vaccine but are willing to ingest a medicine meant for animals.
"It really shows the power that a conspiracy theory mindset can have on how you see the universe," he said.
"On the one hand, we have a vaccine that one could argue is the most studied vaccine in human history ... then, on the other hand, you have an unproven drug that has been recommended to be avoided by entities like the FDA, and people opt for the latter.
"It is really an incredible disconnect."
‘Get your jab, get done with this’
Pierce, on the other hand, is less fascinated with the situation.
"If you want to be an idiot, and put something into your frickin' body that's not meant to, go ahead,” Pierce said. “That's the point I'm at. Like, get your jab, get done with this.”
With files from the Canadian Press and Cindy White / Castanet
