Pharmacologist Ediger: dietary supplements will have to be “rehabilitated” amid a shortage of drugs 
In the near future, biologically active additives ( Dietary supplements), which are now in the position of “exiles” and are considered as something meaningless and often harmful, says clinical pharmacologist Alexander Ediger. In a conversation with Lenta.ru, he predicted that dietary supplements would have to be “taken out of the shadows” amid an acute shortage of developments in the field of antiviral drugs.
Earlier, the head of the troops of radiation, chemical and biological protection, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, told the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda that scientists from the 27th Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense have created a unique dietary supplement KovBAD to combat coronavirus. According to him, one of the samples of the developed dietary supplements was registered in early November, having successfully passed the effectiveness test.
The under-researched remedy
According to Ediger, dietary supplements will help in a crisis situation when scientists need to find funds useful in the fight against COVID-19 in a short time and with a limited resource. “This is an underexplored highly effective agent in a significant part of cases, therefore, when dietary supplements appear, even with a small number of studies that show effectiveness in COVID-19 as a preventive measure or as a therapy, I can only welcome this,” the pharmacologist emphasized./p>
The advantage of dietary supplements, he called the fact that the antikidny immunity during their use is broader than that which is released during vaccination, since the latter is directed against a specific antigen. The dietary supplements developed against COVID-19, according to Ediger, should be more than effective, since they include fucoidans and extracts of certain aquatic organisms, in particular, cephalopods. According to studies, these elements have pronounced direct and indirect antiviral effects.
“The Ministry of Defense is engaged in a highly interesting and promising industry, not paying attention to the current status of these ingredients and dietary supplements,” said the pharmacologist, however emphasized that dietary supplements can in no way replace a medicine, and when using it, the doctor should proceed from expediency.