Dr. Raffy Castillo on Ivermectin and vaccine (Part 1)
Dr. Rafael "Raffy" Castillo is a famous and highly respected Filipino physician and weekly columnist in Inquirer Lifestyle’s Wellness page, https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/byline/rafael-r-castillo-md/. He is also a member of the PRC Board of Medicine.
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By: Rafael Castillo MD / 05:06 AM March 22, 2021
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1409677/6-urgent-steps-to-turn-health-crisis-around
I just read the report on rapidly developing “escape mutations” of the novel coronavirus, and tried to trace the development of the currently identified variants.
And it occurred to me that they all started in countries with massive vaccination clinical trials (the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil).
Now, additional escape mutations have been identified in countries like the United States after mass vaccination.
Just a coincidence? Or could the mass vaccination be paradoxically triggering the propagation of the virus? Hopefully not.
With a 400-percent surge in the number of COVID-19 cases, we definitely have to pause and rethink our situation.
I propose the following steps that may help us turn this medical crisis around, particularly in hotbed areas.
Moving target
At the rate escape mutations are developing, the current vaccines may no longer be effective in a few months, and it would require an urgent round of booster doses plus additional shots perhaps every three to six months to cover for the variants that could number in the hundreds within months.
The virus seems capable of mutating every 24-48 hours. It’s like shooting at a moving target, and as we hit one, it divides and creates new variants.
It’s time we recalibrated our anti-Covid strategy.
1. We should urgently shift from a vaccine-centric strategy to a more holistic multipronged approach. Vaccines are the least we need in Metro Manila and other hotbed areas.
2. Suspend vaccination for now and go full-blast with measures to control community transmission. Continuing the vaccination will only fuel the transmission and promote more mutations and resistance to vaccination.
3. Proceed with mass vaccination only in areas with controlled and stable community transmission.
20-40 age group
4. Withhold vaccination of the 20 to 40 year olds to reduce the rate of developing vaccine resistance. Vaccinating them will only create more breeding grounds for virus mutation and resistance development.
Besides, the risk of dying from COVID in the 20-40 age group is extremely low and just slightly higher than the risk of dying from vaccination-related adverse reactions.
It’s better to allow their system to develop natural, rather than vaccine-generated, immunity that can potentially weaken their innate immunity.
Let’s reserve the vaccination for the elderly, and other high-risk persons whose immune systems are no longer as healthy and reactive as the young adults’.
Ivermectin, etc.
5. Stop buying more vaccines for the next six months and reallocate the money to buy other immune-system- boosting agents like ivermectin, vitamins D and C, zinc, virgin coconut oil, and melatonin which should be provided for free in hotbed areas.
Face masks and shields should also be distributed for free in indigent barangays.
The government can invoke its police power and take over the manufacture of these products during this critical period. USP-grade ivermectin is not even available. The government should make emergency importation of this product, which can be easily procured from neighboring countries.
6. Agility in adapting and adjusting to prevailing circumstances is paramount.
Our previous plans on mass vaccination may not be suitable for now. It’s an excellent tool for prevention of future transmission, but is potentially disastrous in the current situation when community transmission is uncontrolled...
(2) More pragmatic
solutions, not mass vaccination, while there’s surge
By: Rafael R. Castillo MD 02:47 PM March 25, 2021
https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/380943/more-pragmatic-solutions-not-mass-vaccination-while-theres-surge/
… Thinking that mass vaccination will solve our pandemic woes and restore normalcy in our lives limits our discernment of what could be more suitable for our country.
Mass vaccination for the young and old may no longer be the best solution at this point. I propose a targeted vaccination of the elderly and other high-risk patients in COVID-19 hotbeds like Metro Manila for now, and consider deferring it in the young who may just turn into asymptomatic superspreaders between the first and second doses of their vaccination. In other areas which are not infection hotbeds, we may proceed with the vaccination as planned….
Vaccination benefits will be seen in the midterm to long-term but not now, this month, next month, and the month after next. In fact, mass vaccination at this point when we’re actually under siege by the virus may have its downside which our experts must closely look into. We need to think of more pragmatic solutions at this stage of the pandemic for Metro Manila and other areas under similar viral siege.
Those who received the first vaccine dose remain vulnerable, and may even become a breeding and training ground for the virus to enable itself to mutate and upgrade to a variant that will be resistant to the vaccine. So, even those who have received the first dose need to protect themselves adequately until the beneficial effects of the virus kicks in after the second dose….
What will really be effective at this point when the virus is right in our midst is to ensure that our natural resistance or innate immunity is optimal to engage the virus in hand-to-hand combat.
My recommendation is to get out of a predominantly
vaccine-centric strategy to a more holistic, multipronged paradigm aimed at
enhancing the natural immune system with readily available drugs like
melatonin, ivermectin and other supplements…
(3) My rejoinder on
vaccination and ivermectin
By: Rafael R. Castillo MD
/ 09:24 PM March 30, 2021
https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/381197/my-rejoinder-on-vaccination-and-ivermectin/
…I am NOT an anti-vaxxer. I clearly stated that in areas outside of the current COVID-19 hotbed areas, mass vaccination should proceed as planned.
What I suggested was that in Metro Manila and all areas included in the “bubble” with runaway (uncontrolled) transmission, it’s probably more prudent to suspend vaccination in young and healthy adults 20 to 40 years of age, and reserve whatever limited supply of vaccines we have at the moment for the vulnerable sector of the population—the elderly, and younger individuals but high-risk like those with heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, asthma, obesity and other comorbidities…
Suspend, not cancel
The reason for prioritizing the elderly and those prone to severe COVID-19 is that the healthy young adults are not that vulnerable and have an extremely low risk of dying, not much higher than the risk of dying from a vaccine-related reaction.
The second important reason is that between the first and second doses of the vaccine, the young adult is still suboptimally protected in a scenario of rapidly rising community transmission, that is, when the virus could be all around us. The risk of catching the virus is much higher than if community transmission was controlled. The asymptomatic, partially protected young adult may unknowingly carry the virus and spread it around…
Some critics compare ivermectin with the now discredited hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). There’s a world of difference between ivermectin and HCQ, which I rarely used even at the peak of its scientific and media hype. I was scared of HCQ’s potentially deadly complications in patients with or without heart problems.
But for ivermectin, it’s reported to be one of the safest drugs with around 3.5 billion doses already given worldwide. Of the more than 40 studies published on it, none showed a signal for significant harm…
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