My uneducated understanding is that there is a very simple reason. Emergency Use Authorization. This is a bug in the system (as pointed out by Ben Carson.) Basically, the incentives align against adjuvant treatments because the vaccines then lose EUA status.
Therefore, there has been a VERY STRONG PUSH to avoid alternatives because if it can be shown that an alternative exists, the vaccines (and thus the gravy train) stop. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I might even say that protocols for which the government reimburses hospitals are designed to create more deaths.
That's why every new drug for covid is aiming for EUA. I can almost guarantee you that those which show promise in clinical trials will not be approved outside of EUA for similar reasons.
That bug needs to be fixed ASAP, but if it is fixed then:
1. Life gets back to normal because there are effective alternatives - petty tyrants don't really want this
2. The obscene profits stop - $PFE and $MRNA do not want this
My 2c, would love to hear otherwise.
Yeah but that's dumb. Like I said, something will truly be "fixed" when there is both preventative measures, vaccines and adjuvant options, treatments. It's ridiculous to think that just because there are vaccines, we won't need treatments. There is actually no diseases in the world that were ever eliminated by vaccines alone and that has never stopped the "gravy train" of vaccines. For pharmaceutical companies, they make money either way really whether it's vaccines or adjuvant treatments I would think.
EUA has nothing to do with it. EUA just has to do with the urgency of the situation and it's been issued for both vaccines and adjuvant treatments.