I suspect that some of the negativity and unwillingness to give more credit to the possibility that HCQ works stems from Trump having jumped the gun in typical

I suspect that some of the negativity and unwillingness to give more credit to the possibility that HCQ works stems from Trump having jumped the gun in typical Trump fashion, and applauded it so early in the process of investigation. A strong general media disfavor of anything Trump-favored could easily spread from there and, since many scientists are also sensitive to reputation, they too clammed up for a while, until it really did start to seem that it helps in some cases. Here where I live, an acquaintance of mine is a doctor in one of the region's biggest public hospitals dedicated to COVID cases, and he and his colleagues all use HCQ regularly for their hospitalized patients along with a few other drugs that include ivermectin and azithromycin. He insists that they do seem to provide therapeutic help, in his clinical experience, and more anecdotally, this same doctor has treated two very elderly (90 years+) people I know who got COVID and both recovered after a fairly moderate level of illness.