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A comment on Lesson of ivermectin: meta-analyses based on summary data alone are unreliable. Parent comment

Re:Lesson of ivermectin: meta-analyses based on summary data... by tptacek on Wednesday September 22, 2021 @10:56AM (#28617027)
It matters a lot if ivermectin doesn't do anything to stop C19, even if it is otherwise safe (it surely is, dosed professionally). People take ivermectin instead of vaccinating or complying with NPIs. If ivermectin doesn't work, that is a very, very big deal.
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Re:Lesson of ivermectin: meta-analyses based on summary data... by rory on Wednesday September 22, 2021 @11:15AM (#28617278)
> People take ivermectin instead of vaccinating or complying with NPIs

Doing one thing but not another doesn't imply you're doing one thing instead of another.

Do you truly believe the people ODing on ivermectin would be lining up for vaccinations if it didn't exist?

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Re:Lesson of ivermectin: meta-analyses based on summary data... by myrmidon on Wednesday September 22, 2021 @11:31AM (#28617494)
Lining up? Not necessarily.

But it seems almost certain to me that at least some people feel safe thanks to taking ivermectin (while distrusting mainstream vaccines), and those people would turn eventually to the vaccines if those were the only perceived path towards C19 safety.

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Re:Lesson of ivermectin: meta-analyses based on summary data... by rory on Wednesday September 22, 2021 @11:39AM (#28617610)
Perhaps on the margin some would, but I suspect most would fall into the "natural immunity" camp.

So in my mind, we need to weigh the damage done by blocking safe ivermectin use for some number of people to the damage done by a much-smaller number of people remaining unvaccinated when they otherwise would get the jab.

Seems like it could go either way depending on your specific assumptions.

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Re:Lesson of ivermectin: meta-analyses based on summary data... by threecheese on Wednesday September 22, 2021 @11:48AM (#28617748)
One doesn't imply the other, but it is certainly happening. People are using (being led to use) ivermectin as a prophylactic against covid, an alternative to the vaccine.
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Re:Lesson of ivermectin: meta-analyses based on summary data... by tptacek on Wednesday September 22, 2021 @12:33PM (#28618398)
I don't know what this is supposed to mean, but a close family member took ivermectin instead of being vaccinated, and caught a serious case.
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Re:Lesson of ivermectin: meta-analyses based on summary data... by rory on Wednesday September 22, 2021 @01:01PM (#28618774)
It's pretty simple: had ivermectin not existed, would that person have gotten vaccinated?
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