'Cannot get my head around this': Kenney expresses frustration at 'Ivermectin fans'

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney takes questions live on Facebook on Oct. 13, 2021 (Source: Facebook).

EDMONTON -

Alberta’s premier says he can’t understand why people would want to take a “horse dewormer” like Ivermectin - instead of a free and approved COVID-19 vaccine.

He made the comments during a live question-and-answer on Facebook Wednesday night.

“I gotta say this…I don’t know how people became partisans of a horse dewormer, but all the Ivermectin fans out there, I think there’s a very strong overlay between proponents of Ivermectin as a covid therapeutic and people who refuse to take the vaccine,” Kenney said.

“And I've just got to be blunt with you, I cannot get my head around this.”

Kenney was responding to a questioner who said it was “his way or the highway” on the drug - when other countries had been using a human version to treat coronavirus patients.

The premier pointed out that, as a treatment for COVID-19, Ivermectin is not approved by the Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons, Health Canada or the American Food and Drug Administration.

“There’s a couple of countries where it is being used, but a couple of countries have pulled back on its use because they've seen that it’s been ineffective, and in some cases can be dangerous,” Kenney said.

“It would be outrageous for me to intervene and tell all of those scientific and medical experts that they have to use an anti-parasitic veterinary drug on people for COVID, when there’s no evidence to support that.”

Alberta Health Services has warned Albertans against the use of Ivermectin, and an AHS health official said 18 Albertans have called a poison and drug information line for help after ingesting a form of Ivermectin in 2021.

Thirty-eight new deaths related to COVID-19 were announced Wednesday and the province said 76 per cent of eligible Albertans are now vaccinated with two doses.

The Facebook lives do not permit journalists an opportunity to ask follow-up questions of the premier. Kenney last held a media conference on Tuesday, but he was not asked specifically about Ivermectin.