Ramdev’s U-Turn: Will Get Vaccinated, Calls Doctors ‘God’s Envoys’

Ramdev had earlier said that he does not need the COVID-19 vaccine as he has the protection of yoga and Ayurveda.

Baba Ramdev.

(Photo: PTI)

After weeks of controversy surrounding Ramdev and his comments on allopathic treatments amid the devastating second wave of the pandemic, the yoga guru has now made a U-turn, saying he will “very soon” get vaccinated.

Although Ramdev had recently said he does not need the COVID-19 vaccine as he had the protection of yoga and Ayurveda, he welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of centralisation of the COVID vaccine drive, which made the vaccine free for all adults and described it as a "historic" step, PTI reported.

He was quoted as saying, “Get both doses of the vaccine and the double protection of yoga and Ayurveda. They will combine to give you such a robust shield of protection that not a single person will die from COVID.”

Contrastingly, Ramdev had earlier not only called allopathy “a stupid science” but also raised doubts about the vaccine efficacy when he claimed that 1,000 doctors died despite being fully vaccinated.

Doctors Are God's Envoys on Earth: Ramdev

The “stupid science” comment by Ramdev led to a confrontation with the Indian Medical Association (IMA), which demanded action against Ramdev.

After which, the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had written to Ramdev expressing disappointment over the latter’s comments in a widely circulated video. The yoga guru retracted his statement following Vardhan’s letter.

However, Ramdev then wrote an open letter to the IMA, asking for cures for several diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, and blockages in the heart, along with cures for humanising “rude and violent people” and “sorting out differences between practitioners of Ayurveda and allopathy”.

Responding to the ongoing confrontation with the IMA, Ramdev said on Thursday that he cannot have any animosity with any organisation and added that he was against the exploitation of people in the name of medicines, PTI reported.

"I am not against any organisation. Good doctors are a real boon. They are God's envoys on earth. But individual doctors can do wrong things," he was quoted as saying.

The yoga guru, who has angered the whole medical fraternity, said, "When it comes to emergency treatment and surgery, allopathy is the best. There cannot be two opinions about it.”

(With inputs from PTI)