They are trying ivermectin because at this stage of the pandemic you can only do drug repurposing, to get anything new from bench into clinic takes five years.

They are trying ivermectin because at this stage of the pandemic you can only do drug repurposing, to get anything new from bench into clinic takes five years. Everyone would love to see 3CL protease inhibitors, but they aren't near ready. A quick search turns up over two dozen clinical trials with ivermectin, not all of them taking place in threshold countries. Israel, Spain, Mexico, Singapore are all highly developed countries.