Maui Mayor Michael Victorino strongly condemned the off-label use of malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and the veterinary dewormer ivermectin as treatments for COVID-19 today, in response to recent media reports about it being used to treat people on Maui suffering from the virus.

“The FDA has not approved either of these drugs for treating or preventing COVID-19. Taking any drug for an unapproved use can be dangerous or lethal,” Victorino said in a press release.

The Star-Advertiser reported today that Dr. Kirk Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist and senior pastor at Calvary Chapel South Maui, had been promoting the treatment regimen. He told the newspaper that he had treated more than 80 people on Maui through a “mobile clinic” that people heard about through the “coconut wireless.”

Milhoan said that his “early treatment” protocol could be used as an alternative to the COVID-19 vaccines.

Dr. Lorrin Pang, who is the Maui District Health Officer for the state Department of Health also told the Star-Advertiser that he supported the use of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin as treatment options for COVID-19. Pang said that he was speaking as a private citizen. The Department of Health does not support the use of the drugs to treat COVID-19.

The Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly warned against using the drugs to treat the virus.

Hydroxychloroquine was pushed by former President Donald Trump last year as a potential wonder drug to treat the virus, but studies have shown that there is no evidence that the drug reduced symptoms or prevented severe illness.

Ivermectin later caught on, particularly within conservative circles, as another wonder drug, despite the lack of scientific evidence that it is effective in treating COVID-19.

People suffering from the virus who couldn’t get ivermectin from doctors, have sometimes turned to livestock supply stores. In Mississippi, one person was hospitalized this month for ingesting the dewormer.

The troubling trend prompted the FDA on Saturday to tweet: “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.”

Victorino also stressed the safety of the available COVID-19 vaccines, including the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which the FDA granted final approval to this week.

“The vaccines have undergone, and continue to undergo, the most intensive safety monitoring in the nation’s history,” according to the press release issued by Vicotorino.

Citing research from Vanderbilt University, he said the odds of dying from a reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine is about the same as being killed by lightening.

“I remind Maui County residents that more than 95 percent of those hospitalized at Maui Memorial Medical Center are unvaccinated,” said Victorino. “Vaccines are the safest way to protect your health and the health of your loved ones.”