"HCQ is also a zinc ionophore that conveys zinc intracellularly to block the SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, which is the core enzyme of the virus replication."
This is exactly what Dr. Zelenko has said. He described zinc as the bullet and HCQ as the gun. And also interestingly was the premise that RCTs were expected to be conducted to affirm or deny its effectiveness. Unfortunately, no parallel RCT was ever conducted, per Dr. Risch.