>>> AT MY DIRECTION, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS WORKING TO HELP
OBTAIN LARGE QUANTITIES OF
CHLOROQUINE, AND YOU CAN LOOK
FROM ANY STANDPOINT TOMORROW.
IN NEW YORK, WE THINK TOMORROW
PRETTY EARLY, THE
HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE AND THE Z
PACK, I THINK IS A COMBINATION
PROBABLY IS LOOKING VERY, VERY
GOOD.
GOOD. >> THIS IS A LITTLE BIT LIKE
TESTING NEW TIRES ON A MOVING
CAR.
CAR. TOMORROW CLINICAL TRIALS WILL
BEGIN IN NEW YORK FOR A MALARIA
MEDICATION DISPENSED IN
COMBINATION WITH AN ANTIBIOTIC
TO TREAT CORONAVIRUS.
AS WE MENTIONED, DR. ANTHONY
FAUCI NOTABLY ABSENT FROM
TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS BRIEFING AT
THE WHITE HOUSE.
BUT ON FRIDAY HE WAS ASKED ABOUT
THE EFFICACY OF REPURPOSING THIS
OLD MALARIA DRUG FOR THIS
ILLNESS.
ILLNESS. >> DR. FAUCI, IT WAS EXPLAINED
YESTERDAY THERE HAS BEEN SOME
PROMISE WITH HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE,
THIS POTENTIAL THERAPY FOR
PEOPLE INFECTED WITH
CORONAVIRUS.
CORONAVIRUS. IS THERE ANY EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST
THAT AS WITH MALARIA, IT MIGHT
BE USED AS A PROPHYLAXIS AGAINST
COVID-19?
COVID-19? >> THE ANSWER IS NO, AND THE
EVIDENCE THAT YOU’RE TALKING
ABOUT, JOHN, IS ANECDOTAL
EVIDENCE.
EVIDENCE. >> SO THERE’S THAT.
AND WITH US TONIGHT BY PHONE,
WHICH WE SURE TRIED TO GET TO BE
ABLE TO SEE HER ON SKYPE, LAURIE
GARRETT.
GARRETT. AS A SCIENCE WRITER, SHE IS THE
RECIPIENT OF THE PULITZER PRIZE,
THE POLK AND PEABODY AWARDS.
SHE’S THE AUTHOR OF "THE COMING
PLAGUE," AND "EBOLA: STUDY OF AN
OUTBREAK YGS.
OUTBREAK YGS. A ROM-COM OBVIOUSLY.
SHE’S ALSO A CONTRIBUTOR TO
FOREIGN POLICY.
FOREIGN POLICY. LAURIE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR
COMING ON AND PUTTING UP WITH A
BLANKET ELECTRONIC FAILURE INTO
AND OUT OF OUR 30 ROCK CONTROL
ROOM TONIGHT.
ROOM TONIGHT. TALK SOME MORE, PLEASE, ABOUT
THIS MEDICINE AND ANY DANGER, AS
YOU SEE IT, FROM A PUBLIC HEALTH
PERSPECTIVE OF GETTING HOPES UP
HIGH IN ANY OF THESE AREAS.
>> WELL, AS YOU KNOW, BRIAN,
THERE IS A WOMAN FIGHTING FOR
HER LIFE IN A HOSPITAL IN
ARIZONA TONIGHT.
ARIZONA TONIGHT. HER HUSBAND DIED BECAUSE THEY
TOOK CHLOROQUINE AFTER HEARING
THE PRESIDENT SAY IT WAS THE
RIGHT WAY TO TREAT THEIR
COVID-19 ILLNESS, AND IT TURNED
OUT THEY TOOK CHLOROQUINE
PHOSPHATE, WHICH IS USED TO
CLEAN OUT FISH TANKS.
IT KILLED ONE OF THEM, AND THE
OTHER IS FIGHTING FOR HER LIFE.
THIS IS THE DANGER OF SAYING
THINGS AND ANNOUNCING
TREATMENTS, ANNOUNCING MEDICINES
WHEN THEY HAVEN’T BEEN PROVEN,
WHEN THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THE
PUBLIC WHO WON’T FULLY
UNDERSTAND THE NUANCES.
THEY’RE NOT DOCTORS.
THEY DON’T KNOW HOW TO DOSE
THEMSELVES PROPERLY.
THEMSELVES PROPERLY. THEY’LL GO OUT, AND THEY’LL BUY
FISH TANK CLEANER THINKING THAT
THAT’S THE ANTIMALARIAL DRUG
CHLOROQUINE.
CHLOROQUINE. I THINK THIS IS JUST HEADING
DOWN A PATH TOWARDS DEVASTATING
OUTCOMES AS WE HAVE THE
PRESIDENT ANNOUNCING MEDICAL
BREAKTHROUGHS SUPPOSEDLY, AND WE
HAVE CERTAIN COMMENTATORS
BEATING THE DRUM IN FAVOR OF
THESE MEDICINES, BUT THEY’VE NOT
BEEN PROVEN.
BEEN PROVEN. THEY’VE NOT BEEN SUBJECTED TO
CLINICAL TRIALS.
CLINICAL TRIALS. AND THESE ARE NOT DRUGS WITHOUT
SIDE EFFECTS.
SIDE EFFECTS. I MEAN ONE OF THE DRUGS IN THE
PACK IS AZT.
THAT WAS THE VERY FIRST DRUG
INVENTED FOR TREATING HIV
ILLNESS, AND THAT DRUG HAD A
WHOLE RANGE OF SIDE EFFECTS.
>> CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT IN THE
GREATEST COUNTRY ON EARTH, WE
HAD TESTED BY THE END OF
FEBRUARY -- THIS CAME OUT
TODAY -- 352 INDIVIDUALS.
SO ROUGHLY THE NUMBER OF
PASSENGERS WHO CAN FIT ON THE
LARGEST PASSENGER JET IN THE
WORLD.
WORLD. THE GREATEST COUNTRY ON EARTH
HAD TESTED A SUM TOTAL OF 352
SOULS IN THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY.
WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU?
>> WELL, IT TELLS ME THAT WE
WEREN’T TAKING THIS SERIOUSLY.
WE WEREN’T ACTING WHEN ACTING
COULD HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE,
AND WE WEREN’T DOING THE THINGS
WE NEEDED TO BE DOING TO BRING
THIS EPIDEMIC UNDER CONTROL.
LOOK, BRIAN, THE LATEST DATA
FROM THE WORLD HEALTH
ORGANIZATION REALLY OUGHT TO BE
STARTLING AND TERRIFYING TO
EVERYBODY BECAUSE WE’RE ALMOST
AT 400,000 CASES IN THE WORLD.
THESE ARE OFFICIALLY CONFIRMED
CASES.
CASES. AND AS DR. TEDROS TOLD US TODAY
IN HIS BRIEFING, IT TOOK 67 DAYS
FOR THE WORLD TO GET THE FIRST
100,000 CASES.
100,000 CASES. IT TOOK 11 DAYS TO GET THE
SECOND 100,000 CASES.
IT TOOK FOUR DAYS TO GET THE
THIRD 100,000 CASES.
AND WE MAY HIT THE 400,000 IN
JUST TWO DAYS.
THIS THING IS TAKING OFF.
IT’S SKYROCKETING.
IT’S SKYROCKETING. IT’S IN NEARLY EVERY COUNTRY IN
THE WORLD, AND IT IS OUT OF
CONTROL.
CONTROL. SO FOR US TO BE SO FAR DOWN THE
PATH, GRASPING AT ANTIMALARIAL
DRUGS, GRASPING AT AZT, THE
ANCIENT, YOU KNOW, 1980s VERSION
OF HIV TREATMENT, AND TELLING
THE PUBLIC THAT, HEY, YOU KNOW,
THE STOCK MARKET IS THE PROBLEM.
WE’RE GOING TO TAKE OUT ALL THIS
SOCIAL DISTANCING NONSENSE
WITHIN 15 DAYS, AND YOU CAN ALL