CNN's Don Lemon calls out Fox News for spreading deadly COVID misinformation
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From the September 28, 2021, edition of CNN's Don Lemon Tonight
DON LEMON (HOST): Two pandemics are killing people. Coronavirus and misinformation. New Mexico says that two people have died after using a drug that has been wrongly touted as a COVID treatment. Are you listening everybody out there? Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic drug used most often in livestock. It is not a COVID treatment.
The liberal watchdog group Media Matters is reporting that there are 60 Facebook groups dedicated to ivermectin with tens of thousands of members. More than two dozen of which have shut down for posts like this, and I quote, "Ivermectin is clearly the answer to solve COVID and the world is waking up to the truth." It's not. Don't believe that.
But Facebook isn't the only place where the ivermectin curiosity has been spreading.
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I mean, people actually sit there and they watch that all day long. No one hates ivermectin. That would be bizarre -- you hate ivermectin? I mean. It's misinformation that is the problem. Like what is all over the Fox propaganda airwaves.
Health officials warn that, while ivermectin can be prescribed for humans, it is not a cure for the coronavirus. In Texas, calls to poison control about ivermectin exposure have more than tripled in the last year.
So why are people buying into these get-sick-quick schemes? Especially when we have vaccines that are free and effective? Well, tonight, roughly 7 million eligible Americans are still not vaccinated. And the rate of a new -- of new vaccinations is as low as it's been since the CDC began tracking. So please, we know what we need to do to keep people safe. Doctors aren't hiding it from you. In fact, they are begging you. Get vaccinated.