Jimmy Kimmel mocks Oklahoma for spending $2m on hydroxychloroquine ‘to show Trump how much he means to them’

A World Health Organisation expert panel has found the drug shouldn’t be used to prevent Covid-19

Jimmy Kimmel poked fun at Oklahoma’s decision to spend $2m on hydroxychloroquine, only for the drug to be dismissed by the World Health Organisation as a means to prevent Covid-19.

The late-night host broached the topic on Tuesday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live.

He started out by discussing a WHO expert panel which said on Tuesday that hydroxychloroquine should not be used in the prevention of Covid-19.

The panel wrote in the British Medical Journal that the drug “is no longer a research priority” and that “resources should rather be oriented to evaluate other more promising drugs to prevent Covid-19”. It found that “hydroxychloroquine had a small or no effect on mortality and admission to hospital” and “a small or no effect on laboratory confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection”.

Hydroxychloroquine, which is used in relation to other pathologies such as arthritis, malaria, and lupus, was touted by Trump last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, despite concerns about the drug’s efficiency against Covid-19.

A spokesman told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he Oklahoma attorney general’s office is attempting to return $2 million worth of hydroxychloroquine it purchased in April, amounting to 1.2m pills.

Kimmel mentioned that development, telling his audience: “They’re trying now to return $2m worth of unused doses of this drug, which they bought using taxpayer money to show Donald Trump how very much he means to them.”

The host then joked that the Oklahoma board of tourism “is trying to make it some kind of selling point”.

His segment cut to a faux ad for the state of Oklahoma, ironically describing it as “a place where 1.2m unused doses of hydroxychloroquine collect dust in a warehouse” and “a place where innovators thrive, and where we have a ****ton of unwanted medicine”.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt previously told AP about the purchase: “I was being proactive to try and protect Oklahomans.”