The CDC issued a health advisory today about a rapid increase in ivermectin prescriptions — now up 24-fold over pre-pandemic levels — and reports of severe illness associated with use of ivermectin products to prevent or treat COVID-19, according to North Central Public Health (NCPHD) in The Dalles.

Ivermectin is not FDA approved for use in preventing or treating COVID, and has not been proven as a way to prevent or treat it. Calls to poison control centers have gone up nationwide as a result of people taking ivermectin improperly, NCPHD reported.

Nearly all COVID-19 restrictions could be lifted in as early as just over two weeks, Gov. Kate Brown said Friday.

The state is about 127,000 adults short of the goal of getting at least one shot of vaccine into 70 percent of eligible residents.