Thread by @nickmmark

One bizarre argument I keep seeing is that “if ivermectin was ‘approved for COVID’ the vaccines would lose their EUA status because there would be an alternative treatment.”

This is untrue (and a particularly stupid argument) for several reasons.

A short thread.
1/

First of all there *ARE* FDA approved, NIH recommended therapies that reduce COVID mortality & are currently in widespread use:
- dexamethasone
- tocalizumab
- baricitinib

If the mere existence of an “alternative therapy” instantly voided an EUA it would have already happened
2/

Second, one of the vaccines (the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine) *ALREADY HAS* full FDA approval.

The full approval of the Pfizer vaccine on 8/23 means that Pfizer doesn’t have an EUA anymore. It also didn’t magically invalidate the other 2 vaccine EUAs.
3/
fda.gov/news-events/pr…

Clearly “approval of a cheap, widely available and effective COVID therapy” (e.g. dexamethasone) didn’t “invalidate the vaccine’s EUA”

Even full approval of one vaccine didn’t invalidate the EUAs for the other 2; Moderna and J&J remain available

Don’t believe the nonsense!
4/

There is a tiny nugget of truth here: an emergency use authorization (EUA) *DOES* require 4 conditions to be met:
1. a public health emergency
2. proof of effectiveness
3. benefits > harm
4. no adequate, approved, & available alternative (at the time of EUA submission)
5/

IVM zealots fixated on #4. But different types of treatments aren’t considered “alternatives”.

For example, widespread availability of steroids doesn’t preclude other immunomodulator therapies (toci, bari, etc)

Similarly monoclonal antibodies & vaccines are not alternatives
6/

At this point there have been over 600 EUAs granted for COVID related products (mostly diagnostic tests). Each has specific indications.

When a new therapy is approved it doesn’t invalidate all the prior ones.
7/
fortune.com/2021/06/07/cov…

Bottom line: if someone tells you “if ivermectin were accepted the vaccines would lose their EUA status” it’s a pretty clear signal that they don’t know what they are talking about.
8/8