Facebook via @cal50/Twitter
August 25, 2021, 8:25 am
Anti-vaxxers have touted a number of reasons as to why they refuse to take the COVID vaccine — claiming it’s rushed (it wasn’t, exactly), or that it’s got a microchip in it (it doesn’t), or still believing that COVID is a hoax (it’s really not). But the most commonly heard reason seems to be something along the lines of these people not wanting to inject something strange into their bodies.
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So rather than take a safe and effective vaccine against a deadly virus, now some of these people are turning to truly bizarre COVID cures instead. Such as horse paste.
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Ivermectin is occasionally used to treat parasites in humans, but its main use is for deworming livestock, earning that version of it the name horse paste.
Anti-vaxxers have been touting this as a COVID cure, with Tennessee Republicans even going so far as to publicly suggest “normalizing” the use of ivermectin in humans specifically for COVID, despite it going against all FDA guidelines.
Much like what happened with hydroxychloroquine, which is also not a cure for COVID despite what Donald Trump and his supporters claimed, the spread of misinformation has caused a rush for the drug, leading to a crackdown on the version of ivermectin acceptable for humans.
So now, people are taking versions of the drug meant for horses.
It’s gotten so bad that even the FDA stepped in to try to stop people from taking the horse dewormer. Despite their best efforts, we all know that won’t make much of a difference.
A Facebook group dedicated to the drug, calling it “the people’s medicine,” is filled with post after post of people exchanging “tips and tricks” for getting and using ivermectin, including scheming to sneak it into hospitalized patients on ventilators.
And the comments on many of the posts quickly devolve into conspiracy theories about the “deep state,” accusations against the “Hollywood elite,” and general MAGA fanaticism.
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You don’t. Poe’s Law has become too powerful, and is going to break through the veil of our reality.
—
WhisperingSage
(@BrianDeCesare) August 24, 2021
Thanks to Trump, his cronies, and an alarming number of people who take medical advice from strangers on Facebook, this is no one’s first rodeo when it comes to deeply absurd misinformation being so widely spread as we try to stop a pandemic, so it almost isn’t even surprising at this point that folks are really out here taking horse drugs rather than a widely available vaccine.
While the FDA’s attempts at combatting misinformation are commendable, all we can really do at this point is sit back and watch.
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If you think horse paste works better than the vaccine,
Go to the vet when you get sick.
— TheSadTruth
(@ReportsDaNews) August 21, 2021
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Anyway, don’t take drugs meant for livestock or any other animals.
*First Published: August 25, 2021, 8:25 am
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