Oops. Nine apologises for vision in A Current Affair royal report

Nine has apologised after mistakenly implying the Queen was using the drug ivermectin after contracting Covid-19.

On Monday night a Story on A Current Affair featured Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, a Victorian GP and former Australian Medical Association boss, who has been at the forefront of the Covid response, including spearheading testing and vaccination clinics in Melbourne’s west.

Guardian Australia reports as he discussed how drug treatments could benefit elderly Covid patients, vision showed stock images of vials of sotrovimab, before switching to a medication box with a label reading “stromectol, containing 3mg ivermectin”.

A Nine spokesperson blamed human error for the mistake.

“We did not intend to suggest Dr Mukesh Hawikerwal endorsed ‘stromectol’,” a spokesperson said on Tuesday.

“We’ve apologised to him this morning and he has accepted that apology. We do not suggest the Queen is using ivermectin.”

Australia’s chief medical officer, Prof Paul Kelly, has repeatedly warned people not to seek out ivermectin.

Despite Nine’s apology and moves to delete the video online, the ACA report has been promoted by vaccine-sceptic groups in Australia and around the world as “a medicine fit for the Queen.”

Nine said the earlier version of the story had been removed from its social media and streaming services and would be corrected then republished.