The concern about side effects is a red herring. No one worries about side effects when they prescribe it for lupus over long periods.
Chris Martensen (Peak Prosperity) had a very informative video following the flaky VA HCQ trial. He went back to search the historic literature/studies etc. to look for side effect warnings for HCQ - there was NOTHING regarding elongated QT timing or other scary cardiac problems. Nothing. Somewhat miraculously those side effects rose to prominence after CCP Flu hit the scene. Funny that.
“No one worries about the side affects...”
Actually Governor Brown of Oregon is worried it will cut into payoffs from Gilead, or worse cure the virus and have her lock down expire.