As you may well know, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and ivermectin are among the most frequently mentioned drugs for early treatment of COVID-19. Both drugs were originally used to combat tropical diseases like malaria (HCQ) and river blindness (ivermectin). What follows is a very brief history of how they were repurposed for treating COVID-19.

In 2010, zinc ionophores were shown to inhibit replication of coronaviruses. This research was done at Dr. Ralph Baric’s Lab at UNC at Chapel Hill. Four years later, a dose-response experiment demonstrated the ability of chloroquine to serve as a zinc ionophore for cells cultured in vitro. In early 2020 this information was used to treat COVID-19 in China, France, and the U.S. Unfortunately, following publication of a fraudulent study in the Lancet in May 2020, governments and medical institutions all over the Western world limited access to HCQ for treatment of COVID-19. Many states in the US followed suit by imposing their own restrictions on HCQ.

The antiviral properties of ivermectin were discovered later than HCQ, and in June 2020 Dr. Jean-Jacques Rajter published the results on treating COVID patients with this drug (Hat tip: Kanekoa the Great). The FLCCC alliance later published a meta-analysis on ivermectin’s effectiveness for both prevention and treatment of COVID-19 and developed protocols for both outpatient and hospital care. Several developing nations followed up by making ivermectin widely available to their citizens. Unfortunately, ivermectin is difficult to get in the U.S. because both the CDC and FDA recommend against its use.

Whether or not you believe HCQ and ivermectin are effective early treatments is beside the point: Both of these generic drugs are considered safe for pregnant women and many nations sell these drugs over the counter.

Given that there is no moral or scientific basis for this unprecedented disruption of the doctor-patient relationship, why are the CDC and FDA doing this? Why do some dying patients need to resort to a court order to access alternative treatment?

According to U.S. Code 360bbb "expanded access to unapproved therapies" requires absence of any other "comparable or satisfactory alternative therapy." In other words, suppression of early treatment for COVID-19 paved the way for “emergency use authorization” of COVID-19 vaccines.

All COVID-19 vaccines available in the U.S. direct human cells to generate large amounts of spike protein. This is problematic because the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein plays a leading role in the “cytokine storm” causing death in high-risk patients. I will leave it up to the reader to determine as to why the CDC is encouraging Americans to take injections that program their cells to generate uncontrolled amounts of a de-facto biotoxin that may be responsible for a 40X increase in vaccine-related deaths and 1000X increase in vaccine-related myocarditis recorded on VAERS.

After the start of the pandemic, Dr. Ralph Baric overlooked his aforementioned work on zinc ionophores and chose instead to investigate Remdesivir. The testing of this dangerous and expensive drug was accomplished through a partnership of Gilead Science and UNC.

Remdesivir was soon authorized by the FDA for treating COVID-19 in April 2020. Unfortunately the clinical benefits of Remdesivir remain unclear, probably because this drug is only available in hospitals and viral replication is usually not a problem during late stages of COVID-19. This regulation prevented Remdesivir from competing with emergency use authorization of the COVID vaccines.

Remdesivir is not the only highly profitable item investigated at UNC. Baric also signed an agreement to research RNA vaccines developed by Moderna back in December 2019. Moderna has existed since 2010, but COVID vaccines are the first patent Moderna has brought to market. In my previous article I discussed both Baric and Moderna’s probable roles in the synthesis of SARS-Cov-2.

If there is a silver lining to this grotesque charade, it is our growing awareness of the moral bankruptcy in our government, our media, our medical institutions. Most importantly, it has shed light on how easily massive segments of the population can be frightened into blind obedience.

If you still believe the lockdowns, mandates, and medical recommendations were hammered out in good faith, I have some Moderna stock to sell you.

Dr. Antonio Chaves teaches biology at a local community college. His interest in economic and social issues stems from his experience teaching environmental science. His older articles with graphs and images are available here. His COVID-19 blog is available here.

Image: Pixabay