‘Covid antidote’: US anti-vaxxer tells supporters to drink own urine
- ‘Vaccine Police’ leader Christopher Key is promoting urine therapy to fight Covid-19
- He is part of a large US anti-vaccine movement, also preaches dangers of masks
As the pandemic has evolved and vaccinations have become politicised, the door has opened for some questionable alternatives to treat Covid-19.
Urine therapy – where advocates encourage people to drink their own urine to tap into its redemptive properties – is among the latest, and a recent video calling the therapy the next “Covid antidote” was viewed over 366,000 times.
“I’ve seen a rise in anti-vaxxers and conspiracists supporting urine, Viagra and other odd alternatives to the vaccine,” said Dr Amanda Torres, a doctor at Winchester Hospital in Boston. “It’s dangerous.”
Christopher Key, who travels the United States to preach about the dangers of vaccines and masks, has taken to promoting urine therapy on his “Vaccine Police” website.
“OK, and I know to a lot of you this sounds crazy, but guys, God’s given us everything we need,” said Key, who claims “tonnes of research” has been done on urine therapy.
There is no scientific or peer-reviewed research to support Key’s claims.
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Key’s Twitter account was suspended as of Tuesday morning but his Telegram account, where Key often promotes his beliefs, remained active.
“Now drink urine!” he said. “This vaccine is the worst bioweapon I have ever seen. I drink my own urine!”
“The matter of the fact is the Covid vaccine is safe and the best protection against the virus. Urine and whatever other therapy people want to believe has not been proven,” Torres said.
Key’s video comes just days after his recent court appearance for his arrest last April, AL.com reported. Key appeared in court on January 4 after he was arrested for refusing to wear a mask inside of the Whole Foods in Alabama. After being asked to leave by the staff and refusing, Key was charged with third-degree trespassing.
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While inside the courtroom, Key also refused to wear a mask and didn’t stop recording when asked to.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, different unproven “alternatives” to the vaccine have been promoted. The US Food and Drug Administration said there was a “growing interest in a drug called ivermectin for the prevention or treatment of Covid-19 in humans”.
The FDA said only certain formulas of ivermectin have been approved to treat parasites in animals.
“However, the FDA has received multiple reports of patients who have required medical attention, including hospitalisation, after self-medicating with ivermectin intended for livestock,” according to the FDA’s website.
