SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday (Oct 15) called out the "Truth Warriors" website as one of several websites here posting “unverified and potentially misleading information” on Covid-19 vaccines and the ivermectin drug.

In a Facebook post, MOH said that the website has been carrying articles claiming that ivermectin, an anti-parasite drug, is safe and effective in treating Covid-19 and that other countries have been using it for early treatment of the coronavirus with high success rates.

“To date, there is no scientific evidence from properly conducted clinical trials to demonstrate that ivermectin is effective against Covid-19,” the ministry said.

“Self-medicating with ivermectin can be dangerous to one’s health, and there have been reports of patients requiring hospitalisation after doing so.”

Last Thursday, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said it was investigating the illegal sales and distribution of ivermectin in relation to a case where a 65-year-old woman ended up in hospital after consuming the drug.

In Singapore, ivermectin is sold by prescription only and for the sole purpose of treating parasitic worm infections. 

Side effects of ivermectin can include vomiting, stomach pain, seizures, severe skin rash and liver injury.

MOH stressed that the drug is not used to treat viruses and is not approved by HSA for use in preventing or treating Covid-19.

Despite this, some people have been organising bulk online purchases of the drug from overseas, TODAY previously reported. 

Even after the media spotlight on the 65-year-old woman’s hospitalisation, supporters of ivermectin persisted in their belief, casting doubt that the drug caused the woman to fall ill.

The Truth Warriors website claims to have been started by a “group of concerned citizens”. One page on the website purportedly tracks the number of “suspected” cases of deaths in Singapore from a Covid-19 vaccine. On another, a picture urges people not to follow the majority but to “follow the right way”. 

On Friday, HSA gave its sixth safety report on Covid-19 vaccines stating that of the more than 8.9 million doses administered in the national voluntary vaccination programme, it received a report of suspected adverse events from 0.14 per cent of them.

An adverse event for vaccination is any undesirable medical condition that occurs after taking the vaccine, which does not necessarily have a direct link to it.

There were 581 suspected adverse events that were serious, making up 0.006 per cent of all doses of the messenger ribonucleic acid vaccines given out through the programme, which are from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

MOH reiterated in its post that Covid-19 vaccines approved for use in Singapore have been assessed to be safe and effective by both HSA and the expert committee on Covid-19 vaccination advising the Government.

“We strongly advise members of the public not to self-medicate with ivermectin and to consult their doctor for proper treatment of Covid-19,” it added.

“Please also avoid speculating and/or spreading misinformation which may cause public alarm, and to refer to credible sources of information instead.”