Pence Tells Fox News He is Not Taking Hydroxychloroquine to Prevent Coronavirus

Vice President Mike Pence is not taking the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a means of preventing the coronavirus, he said in a Tuesday interview.

“In an interview at NASA’s headquarters after a meeting of the National Space Council, [Pence] tells me he is not taking Hydroxychloroquine,” Fox News correspondent Kristin Fisher said in a message on Twitter.

President Donald Trump said Monday that he has been taking the controversial drug, which he has touted as a possible way to diminish the risk of contracting Covid-19. The Food and Drug Administration in April warned against using hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine outside of medical facilities due to the risk of developing heart rhythm problems.

Some in media panned Trump’s announcement, including Fox News host Neil Cavuto. “If you are in a risky population here and you are taking this as a preventative treatment to ward off the virus or, in a worst-case scenario, you are dealing with the virus, and you are in this vulnerable population, it will kill you,” Cavuto said.

Others insist they have used the drug successfully. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), who contracted the coronavirus in March, said in a Tuesday interview that he took hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic Zithromax while he was recovering.