After Claiming Yoga And Ayurveda Can Cure COVID, Ramdev Finally Agrees To Take Vaccine

Yoga guru and FMCG businessman Baba Ramdev who has been locking horns with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) over COVID-19 and Ayurveda has made a U-turn on his previous position on getting vaccinated against the pandemic.

Speaking to ANI, Ramdev urged everybody to get vaccinated and stated that he too will take the jab soon.

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"Everybody should get vaccinated. Also, people should practice yoga and Ayurveda which will prepare a protective shield against disease and will also prevent COVID casualties. I will also get vaccinated soon," he said.

I have dual protection

Earlier Ramdev had said that he didn't feel that he had to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as he has dual protection from the infection through Yoga and Ayurveda.

Ramdev had been in the eye of the storm ever since several recent videos of him questioning modern medicine and vaccines in the context of COVID-19 surfaced.

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He had also claimed that over 10,000 doctors had died after taking both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and even went on to call modern medicine 'stupid science'.

The IMA which did not take the comments by Ramdev launched a strong protest with the Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Varshan and even asked him to either accept what the Yoga guru said or take action against him.

Accusing him of spreading misinformation and vaccine hesitancy in India, doctors across India had observed a black day demanding action against Ramdev.

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Several state units of the IMA have also sent legal notices to Ramdev over his comments.

Not against all doctors

Speaking about the controversy, Ramdev said: "Our fight is not with the doctors of the country, the doctors who are opposing us, they are not doing it through an institution."

"We want that nobody should be harassed in the name of medicines and people should refrain from unnecessary medication. There is no doubt that allopathy is better for emergency cases and surgeries. But other life-threatening diseases, incurable disorders can be cured through ancient practices listed in Yoga Ayurveda, which is not a matter of argument," said Ramdev.

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Coronil

Since July last year, Ramdev has been trying to sell Coronil, an ayurvedic drug developed by Patanjali Ayurved as a cure for COVID-19.

After the company failed to substantiate its claims and questions were raised about the data, Patanjali had initially backtracked and said it was an immunity booster and that they never claimed it to cure COVID-19.

Patanjali Ayurveda

Earlier this year, Ramdev reintroduced Coronil with a claim that it was certified by Ayush Ministry and WHO.

The WHO however rejected this and said it has 'not reviewed or certified the effectiveness of any traditional medicine for the treatment of Covid-19'.