> Chloroquine has side effects

see point #1

> without any scientific basis

see point #2, plus all the hindsight of using this drug since 1949

> during Ebola we were all convinced that drug by Gilead was going to work

You mean Remdesivir, a drug which is barely 5 years old in the clinical world? For that one yes, precautionary principle should have a much higher precedence over the urgency, but for a well known drug like chloroquine which is normally available OTC, sorry saving lives comes first.

I take it you are not on the front line and have no immediate responsibility of the life and death of those infected.