This is a very negative article, characterizing Itajaí's ivermectin as a poor decision without any scientific backing. It makes the usual CONCENTRATION TOO HIGH!!! argument.

Excerpts:

The coastal city of Itajaí in southern Brazil is known for its port and sandy beaches, but recent questionable attempts to hold Covid-19 at bay have brought an additional notoriety. In early July, Mayor Volnei Morastoni — who also happens to be a doctor — took to social media to announce a massive giveaway of the antiparasitic drug ivermectin. The aim of the program was to protect residents against a disease rampaging across the country.

The only problem is that this widely used antiparasitic drug is unproven as a treatment or a protection against the coronavirus.

Proclaiming ivermectin “another weapon in our war against the coronavirus,” Morastoni urged everyone to embrace its use, avoid crowds and wear masks. Soon after, people began to line up outside the city’s 200,000 square foot events center to collect their allocation of the miracle immunity-boosting pills. Some had even taken a ferry from a neighboring municipality.

As of July 31, authorities in Itajaí had handed out more than 1.5 million ivermectin pills. The town’s attempts to battle Covid-19 have attracted both praise and criticism — the latter especially after Morastoni suggested that diagnosed coronavirus patients should undergo rectal ozone therapy.

1.5 million pills in a community of 200,000? Maybe they're 3mg pills?

Some residents told me that they felt like “a national joke” and a “lab experiment,” and complained about misallocation of resources. The town has spent roughly $800,000 on ivermectin, but its death toll and case numbers continue to rise. When the initiative launched in early July, the city had confirmed 2,138 coronavirus cases and 45 deaths. By August 23, these figures had jumped to 5,020 and 144, according to the local government’s own data.

No attempt to estimate what the August 23 numbers would be without ivermectin. @jjchamie says that new cases and deaths grew more slowly in Itajaí compared to the state in which the tow resides.

Brazil’s main champion of ivermectin, Lucy Kerr, an ultrasound expert who talks about the supposed danger of mammograms to women, claims to have cured at least 20 patients in two days after reading the Australian study’s findings. The mayor of Itajaí has called her a “pioneer in the fight for ivermectin.” She often points to personal observations and testimonies shared by colleagues on WhatsApp groups as proof of the drug’s benefits. Her videos endorsing the drug, one of which was recently taken down by YouTube for spreading misinformation, reach hundreds of thousands of people.

Youtube took down an ivermectin video?!

In June alone, 8.6 million packages of ivermectin, usually containing two or four pills, were sold nationwide. In response to the unprecedented demand, Anvisa, the Brazilian health regulator, prohibited the purchase of ivermectin without a prescription and underscored that there are no approved drugs for the prevention or treatment of Covid-19.

On Facebook groups such as Friends of Ivermectin, which has 6,000 members, users say that soaring prices and stock shortages have made the medication more difficult to get hold of. As a result, some people appear to be turning to veterinary versions. In line with a recent statement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, governing bodies representing veterinarians and pharmacists in Brazil have cautioned against the use of drugs intended for animals.

Instead of science-based information, the tone of conversation around ivermectin is increasingly being set by anecdotal evidence. Across social media, enthusiasts attribute their own or a relative’s recovery to the supposed “lifesaving properties” of the drug, urging others to publicly share similar stories.

permalink

I have been following Itajaí's numbers closely and comparing them with its neighboring city, Florianópolis. Unfortunately, the evolution in the number of deaths is very similar in both cities. I don't think Ivermectin, applied in this way, made any difference. For those who understand Portuguese, instagram "prefeituradeitajai" updates its data daily.

permalink