“The results of our study revealed the effectiveness of IVM for treating COVID-19 infection provided it is given early and the dose is adjusted based on severity and co-morbidities of cases. Patients’ Bill of Rights to information and informed consent must be upheld notwithstanding a pandemic. Our results also suggest that government would fare better in controlling the pandemic by implementing focused protection based on age, gender and co- morbidities. The government should adopt a less myopic and terrified approach to managing the pandemic which includes long term lockdowns in various permutations with artificial effects. Opportunities for use and access to IVM and other drugs with preclinical or clinical evidence of antiviral properties should be allowed for the treatment of COVID infections by competent and licensed physicians. Finally, until a sterilizing vaccine is available, the most promising and cost effective treatment to control the pandemic may be a combination drug therapy with or without vaccines provided there is transparency of information on their benefit to risk ratio.

The graduated dosing of IVM to treat COVID-19 based on severity of symptoms and the predilection of the virus to mutate will prove challenging in designing a randomized clinical trial both ethically, morally and scientifically. A more ethical but scientifically sound paradigm to test the effectiveness of treatments for emerging novel infections is imperative because infections is an imminent threat to the security of the world.”