Anti-vaccination conspiracy theorists continue to drag society down by ignoring medical experts and wagering their health on advice from Facebook groups and Joe Rogan, podcast host and UFC commentator.
Ivermectin, a prescription drug used to treat infections caused by parasites, is heralded as a miracle treatment for those who have contracted the coronavirus after Rogan posted an Instagram video Sept. 1 claiming it helped him recover from the virus.
“We immediately threw the kitchen sink at [the virus], all kinds of meds,” Rogan said in the Instagram video post, which tallied over 6.6 million views.
His intellectually-adjacent attitude about health and wellness encourages his largely right-wing following to further defy scientists and medical experts.
With so many dedicated fans, Rogan wields the power of a pop star with the cognitive ability of your bigfoot-loving uncle.
Rogan’s post discussing ivermectin has likely contributed to the amount of yokels currently trying it as a miracle cure.
Even before his post, the number of people willing to take the drug to avoid getting a COVID-19 vaccine increased, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Emergency and Preparedness Response Aug. 26 news release.
The CDC stated in the same news release that human exposures and adverse effects associated with ivermectin reported to poison control centers have spiked in 2021.
Retail pharmacies have experienced a jump in ivermectin prescription sales from 3,600 prescriptions per week in March 2020 to more than 39,000 prescriptions per week in January, according to the same CDC news release.
Unvaccinated people are following a trend in order to one-up the “liberal sheep” who trust medical experts, including Anthony Fauci, without addressing ivermectin’s obvious downfalls.
Ivermectin has shown little evidence of success and can pose additional health risks to those who take it, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) webpage.
Although some clinical trials are starting to show benefits for COVID-19 treatment, the FDA hasn’t authorized or approved ivermectin for use in preventing or treating the virus; and is recommending doctors don’t prescribe it to their patients, according to the same webpage.
This theoretical treatment has been around for months, but now that unvaccinated people are reaping the consequences of their inaction, they’re looking for any option to stay healthy.
Any option except a vaccine.
Unvaccinated individuals are the prominent reason new COVID-19 variants are appearing so fast, according to Dr. Purvi Parikh, an immunologist and allergist with the Allergy and Asthma Network in New York City.
“If everyone is vaccinated, eventually infections drop to zero and so do variants,” Parikh told Healthline Media in its Aug. 10 article. “But if the virus has an easy host, such as an unvaccinated individual, then it’s easy for it to mutate into a more contagious and virulent form.”
Healthline Media, Inc. is a publication headquartered in San Francisco that provides health and wellness information, according to its webpage.
The refusal to get a vaccine reveals a selfish mindset in many individuals. Getting vaccinated doesn’t just protect you from severe cases of COVID-19, it also limits your ability to spread it, according to the CDC Vaccine webpage.
Along with increasing the spread of COVID-19, unvaccinated individuals are filling up hospital beds after overdosing on ivermectin.
Because of the recent popularity surrounding ivermectin, some people are resorting to the over-the-counter version that’s meant for livestock, according to a study conducted by the National Poison Data System.
The National Poison Data System is the data warehouse for the 55 U.S. poison control centers, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers webpage.
The national data center reported a 245% jump in exposure cases from 133 in July to 459 in August, according to the same study.
The mental gymnastics involved in choosing an unsafe livestock drug instead of an FDA-approved vaccine avoids all logic that Rogan fans love to boast about possessing.
I love to hear conspiracy theorists brag about conducting their own “research,” which I imagine as someone sitting on a toilet scrolling through their anti-vaccination Facebook groups.
How many conspiracy theorists are hopping into the laboratory and conducting antigen testing?
Although Rogan may have about 13 million Instagram followers, he has zero medical degrees.
Listen to the real experts and, goddamn it, get vaccinated.
