USA Today
Anti-vaxxer tells supporters the new COVID antidote is in ‘urine therapy’
Gabriela Miranda January 30, 2022
As the pandemic has evolved and vaccinations have become politicized, 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 physician at Winchester Hospital in Boston. “It’s dangerous.”
Christopher Key, who travels the country 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 “tons of research” has been done on urine therapy..
There is no scientific or peer-reviewed research to support Key’s claims.
Key’s Twitter account was suspended as of Tuesday morning but his Telegram account, where Key often promotes his beliefs, remained active.
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“Now drink urine!” he said. “This vaccine is the worst bioweapon I have ever seen. I drink my own urine!”
Torres told USA TODAY the COVD-19 vaccine is “not a bioweapon” and there’s no research to prove urine therapy is beneficial for those vaccinated or unvaccinated.
“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.
The vice dean for research at the University of Louisville College of Medicine was among many other healthcare professionals who shared their thoughts on the topic.
“Do not, I repeat do not, drink urine to treat COVID,” Dr. Jon Klein wrote.
Key’s video comes just days after his recent court appearance for his arrest last April, AL.com reported. Key appeared in court on Jan. 4 after he was arrested for refusing to wear a mask inside of a Whole Foods in Alabama. After being asked to leave by the staff and refusing, Key was charged with third-degree trespassing.
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 U.S. 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 hospitalization, after self-medicating with ivermectin intended for livestock,” according to the FDA’s website.