Ivermectin is widely used in rural parts of the world as a livestock dewormer. It’s highly effective, and sadly when this crap started, it started becoming difficult to find in local feed stores. People were buying up and stockpiling livestock-grade ivermectin. Thankfully stocks have recovered, but I doubt taking the livestock gel orally will rid the user of COVID.
I swear I’ve read Freepers saying livestock Ivermectin would cure covid and give the ratios to use.
While the original, unusual bacterium was found in Japan, all the work to isolate the active compound and make it available to the world was done in New Jersey, USA, in a U.S. pharmaceutical company (Merck).
This product was then used for fifty years by millions of people, mostly in the poorer parts of the world, with a vicious, debilitating disease, with minimal side effects.
Ivermectin’s patent has expired decades ago, so Merck can’t make money of it anymore. There are now numerous manufacturers of this drug.
Now in the midst of the Covid pandemic, Merck is actively discouraging Ivermectin for Covid-19. Many are suspecting that it is because Merck is developing another drug specifically for Covid which they can patent ( and maybe receive government money for billions of dollars ) — MOLNUPIRAVIR. This drug is in Phase III studies and is reported to be effective in protecting and treating Covid patients in the early stages of the disease ( suspiciously similar to the actions of Ivermectin ).