5 ms·

Even if ivermectin were as effective as some people would like to believe, and widely used for COVID, it wouldn't be an alternative to the vaccines in the sense

Even if ivermectin were as effective as some people would like to believe, and widely used for COVID, it wouldn't be an alternative to the vaccines in the sense of preventing their emergency use authorization.

Mountain_Skies 5y ago
Perhaps but being honest instead of resorting to the smear tactics of the past year would help start rebuilding the ruins of the medical establishment's credibility. What good is it to keep pushing out disinformation "for the public's own good" when it results in more and more people looking to alternative (and often very dubious) sources of medical advice? What we need is a policy of absolute honesty with a one-strike-and-your-out-forever punishment for any health authority that engages in propaganda, even if they had good intentions. Credibility matters. It matters a lot. All of these coy little word games and character assassinations being conducted in the name of the common good is achieving the exact opposite result. As it stands now, the credibility of the medical community might be forever tarnished especially since there appears to be no attempt to get it back but rather endless doubling downs on the slime tactics that should be to exclusive province of political campaign directors and used car salesmen.
- wizzwizz4 5y ago
  > What we need is a policy of absolute honesty with a one-strike-and-your-out-forever punishment for any health authority that engages in propaganda, even if they had good intentions. Won't work, unless there are multiple health authorities – but the average person isn't going to keep track of the reputation of multiple small health authorities, so the authorities will have comparatively less reputation at stake. You are onto something, though. Consider fleshing it out a bit before reading what other people are talking about. (ROT13: cerqvpgvba-onfrq zrqvpvar)
- mcguire 5y ago
  "All of these coy little word games and character assassinations being conducted in the name of the common good is achieving the exact opposite result." You aren't kidding. That whole hydroxychloroquine thing was a mess.
jollybean 5y ago
The problem is people irrationally believe that a 'vaccine is unsafe' but at the same time 'some other drug is safe' and might therefore take the drug. My father is kind of scared of the COVID vaccine - understandable. But he gets his 'flu shot' (and a bunch of other things) by the doctor all the time. He has zero problem running all the other tests, taking pills and taking the 'flu shot' which is literally a vaccine! But he also reads stupid conspiracy theory stuff on Facebook and watches Fox News, and I believe to this day he has not been vaccinated. That's how powerful misinformation can be. My bet is that he'll probably take Ivermectin if he's heard about it on Facebook a bunch of times as being that 'safe drug that the government tried to hide'. My father is not a dumb man, and neither are most of the people involved in this - but about 40% of the population can't effectively deal with information. They will take the drug depending whether Biden or Trump told them to take it.
- khuey 5y ago
  > The problem is people irrationally believe that a 'vaccine is unsafe' but at the same time 'some other drug is safe' and might therefore take the drug. It's wild to see people grasping at random anti-parasitics as some sort of miracle cure when (if you're over the age of the 12 and in the US) you can literally walk into any pharmacy and get a real miracle cure for free.
- pumpkinandspice 5y ago
  100% agree that 40% or even more now can’t effectively deal with information, nor can think critically for themselves. It’s so politicized that you are either camp A or B (liberal or conservative). One side being ‘vaccine is the only way’ and the other is ‘vaccine unsafe, other drugs are safe’. There seems to be very little people in the middle who can say ‘vaccines are generally safe but we don’t know the long term side effects so we must look at alternatives now for those that choose not to take it or cannot take it for medical reasons’. Also it’s important for people to assess their own risk profile to make the decisions for themselves (if they decide not to take it).
  - forcry 5y ago
    >vaccines are generally safe I am not sure how that can be correct. Because each vaccine is different, and can vary drastically in what the contain. Now, if you say, all FDA approved vaccines are generally safe, then that might make a little more sense. Then you are at least qualifying something apart from just the name "vaccine".

Mountain_Skies 5y ago

Perhaps but being honest instead of resorting to the smear tactics of the past year would help start rebuilding the ruins of the medical establishment's credibility. What good is it to keep pushing out disinformation "for the public's own good" when it results in more and more people looking to alternative (and often very dubious) sources of medical advice? What we need is a policy of absolute honesty with a one-strike-and-your-out-forever punishment for any health authority that engages in propaganda, even if they had good intentions. Credibility matters. It matters a lot. All of these coy little word games and character assassinations being conducted in the name of the common good is achieving the exact opposite result. As it stands now, the credibility of the medical community might be forever tarnished especially since there appears to be no attempt to get it back but rather endless doubling downs on the slime tactics that should be to exclusive province of political campaign directors and used car salesmen.

wizzwizz4 5y ago
> What we need is a policy of absolute honesty with a one-strike-and-your-out-forever punishment for any health authority that engages in propaganda, even if they had good intentions. Won't work, unless there are multiple health authorities – but the average person isn't going to keep track of the reputation of multiple small health authorities, so the authorities will have comparatively less reputation at stake. You are onto something, though. Consider fleshing it out a bit before reading what other people are talking about. (ROT13: cerqvpgvba-onfrq zrqvpvar)
mcguire 5y ago
"All of these coy little word games and character assassinations being conducted in the name of the common good is achieving the exact opposite result." You aren't kidding. That whole hydroxychloroquine thing was a mess.

jollybean 5y ago

The problem is people irrationally believe that a 'vaccine is unsafe' but at the same time 'some other drug is safe' and might therefore take the drug. My father is kind of scared of the COVID vaccine - understandable. But he gets his 'flu shot' (and a bunch of other things) by the doctor all the time. He has zero problem running all the other tests, taking pills and taking the 'flu shot' which is literally a vaccine! But he also reads stupid conspiracy theory stuff on Facebook and watches Fox News, and I believe to this day he has not been vaccinated. That's how powerful misinformation can be. My bet is that he'll probably take Ivermectin if he's heard about it on Facebook a bunch of times as being that 'safe drug that the government tried to hide'. My father is not a dumb man, and neither are most of the people involved in this - but about 40% of the population can't effectively deal with information. They will take the drug depending whether Biden or Trump told them to take it.

khuey 5y ago
> The problem is people irrationally believe that a 'vaccine is unsafe' but at the same time 'some other drug is safe' and might therefore take the drug. It's wild to see people grasping at random anti-parasitics as some sort of miracle cure when (if you're over the age of the 12 and in the US) you can literally walk into any pharmacy and get a real miracle cure for free.
pumpkinandspice 5y ago
100% agree that 40% or even more now can’t effectively deal with information, nor can think critically for themselves. It’s so politicized that you are either camp A or B (liberal or conservative). One side being ‘vaccine is the only way’ and the other is ‘vaccine unsafe, other drugs are safe’. There seems to be very little people in the middle who can say ‘vaccines are generally safe but we don’t know the long term side effects so we must look at alternatives now for those that choose not to take it or cannot take it for medical reasons’. Also it’s important for people to assess their own risk profile to make the decisions for themselves (if they decide not to take it).
- forcry 5y ago
  >vaccines are generally safe I am not sure how that can be correct. Because each vaccine is different, and can vary drastically in what the contain. Now, if you say, all FDA approved vaccines are generally safe, then that might make a little more sense. Then you are at least qualifying something apart from just the name "vaccine".