Covid Conspiracies Cause Run On Animal Medicine.

September 28, 2021 Glen Turpening

Animal dewormers are in short supply because of internet conspiracies that claim it cures Covid-19. (NY Times)

Emerson Animal Hospital was down to its last 10 milliliters of ivermectin. For months, the veterinary center in West Point, Miss., had watched its supplies of the drug dwindle. Dr. Karen Emerson, the veterinarian who owns the hospital, started the year with one 500-milliliter bottle of ivermectin, which she uses to kill parasites in dogs, chickens and other patients. But as the bottle emptied and her staff tried to find more, they were able to obtain only a 50-milliliter vial. Everyone else told them: None available. So Dr. Emerson began rationing the medicine to give to snakes and other exotic animals for which she had no other deworming treatment. She told dog owners to pay for a more available replacement drug that can cost seven times as much.

By Erin Woo, writing for 'The New York Times'

There is a cure for the Coronavirus and it happens to be the vaccines now widely available. In a continued rejection of science, various internet conspiracy theorists have guided large swaths of the public down the false cure rabbit holes. These false cures have only led to massive increases in the number of people hospitalized thus placing extraordinary strain on the medical system nationwide. The strain is being acutely felt in the South and the Mountain West, regions with low vaccination rates but high levels of horse dewormer use.