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Because there is a lot of discussion in the ISKCON community about vaccinations, a group of ISKCON devotee doctors including doctors from Bhaktivedanta Hospital, South India, UK, and USA came together and after some discussion they decided to publish a statements as devotee doctors for the ISKCON community. Here you will find the statement below.

Recommendations by Medical Devotee Doctors Affiliated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), Founder-Acharya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

The undersigned medical doctors who are Krishna devotees affiliated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) recommend that everyone above the age of 16 years get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible.

  1. COVID-19 refers to the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease also known as SARS-CoV-2
  2. As of April 12, 2021, 135.4 million people have been infected worldwide with 2.9 million deaths.1
  3. Recommended preventive measures include social distancing, wearing an approved face mask2 and self-isolation for the symptomatic and certain exposed individuals.
  4. As of April 12, 2021, the following vaccines are authorized by at least one national public health regulatory authority for emergency authorization use: two mRNA vaccines (the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines), three conventional inactivated vaccines (BBIBP–CoRV, Covaxin and CoronaVac), four viral vector vaccines (Sputnik V, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine (Covishield in India), Convidicea, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and one peptide vaccine (EpivacCorona)
  5. It is not possible to contract the COVID-19 virus from any of the above-mentioned vaccines.
  6. There is currently no evidence that any of the COVID-19 vaccines cause fertility3 problems or alter DNA.4
  7. As of April 12, 2021, 781 million doses of one of the above-mentioned COVID-19 vaccines have been administered worldwide.5  
  8. COVID-19 vaccines aresafe and effective. COVID-19 vaccines were evaluated in tens of thousands of participants in clinical trials. Serious side effects that would cause a long-term health problem are extremely unlikely following COVID-19 vaccination.6
  9. Very rare cases of blood clots and decrease in platelet counts following vaccination with Europe’s AstraZeneca Vaccine and Johnson & Johnson Vaccine have been reported. 7
  10. The safety and efficacy data from clinical trials of vaccine candidates are examined by Drug regulators of each country before granting the license for the same. Hence, all the COVID-19 vaccines that receive license will have comparable safety and efficacy. However, it must be ensured that the entire schedule of vaccination is completed by only one type of vaccine as different COVID-19 vaccines are not interchangeable.
  11. A Scottish study where more than 1.1 million individuals were vaccinated has shown that the hospitalization rate fell by 84%, four weeks after receiving the vaccine.8
  12. Vaccination reduced the overall attack rate from 9.0% to 4.6% in United Sates of America. Vaccination markedly reduced adverse outcomes, with non-ICU hospitalizations, ICU hospitalizations, and deaths decreasing by 63.5%, 65.6% and 69.3% respectively. 9
  13. Individuals who are pregnant, breastfeeding,10 have a history of autoimmune disease, cancer, or who have had a severe or immediate allergic reaction (“anaphylaxis”) 11 to any of the ingredients in the vaccine should consult their own doctor prior to getting a COVID-19 vaccination. Approved COVID-19 vaccines are safe for HIV patients.11
  14. It is important for the people who have had COVID-19 to take the vaccine because the immune response to two doses of vaccine might be bigger, better and longer lasting than just getting the infection one time.
  15. It is vital that everyone continue to wear a mask, sanitize and maintain social distancing after getting vaccinated until experts gather more data.
  16. Vaccination remains the most potent public health response to this pandemic.
  17. Vaccination is safe, effective, and humanity’s first line of defense against the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. WHO Corona dashboard
  2. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/about-face-coverings.html
  3. Lacobucci G. Covid-19: No evidence that vaccines can affect fertility, says new guidance BMJ 2021;372:n509 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n509
  4. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/pregnancy.html
  5. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/
  6. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/safety-of-vaccines.html
  7. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mhra-issues-new-advice-concluding-a-possible-link-between-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-and-extremely-rare-unlikely-to-occur-blood-clots
  8. Torjesen I. Covid-19: First doses of vaccines in Scotland led to a substantial fall in hospital admissions. BMJ. 2021 Feb 22;372:n523. doi: 10.1136/bmj.n523. PMID: 33619037.
  9. Moghadas SM, Vilches TN, Zhang K, et al. The impact of vaccination on COVID-19 outbreaks in the United States [published online ahead of print, 2021 Jan 30]. Clin Infect Dis. 2021;ciab079. doi:10.1093/cid/ciab079
  10. https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/practice-advisory/articles/2020/12/vaccinating-pregnant-and-lactating-patients-against-covid-19
  11. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/clinical-considerations.html

SUMMARY STATEMENT

COVID-19 is an ongoing pandemic of the coronavirus disease. As of April 12, 2021, 135 million people have been infected worldwide with 2.9 million deaths. Vaccination remains the safest and most effective public health response to this pandemic and hence constitutes humanity’s first line of defense against COVID-19.

The undersigned medical doctors who are Krishna devotees affiliated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) recommend that all devotees take one of the locally available vaccines to protect themselves from COVID-19 and to reduce community transmission of the disease.

Dr. Ajay Sankhe

Bhaktivedanta Hospital & Research Institute

Executive director

Mumbai, India

Dr. Sanjiv Agarwal

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

Consultant Urologist

Imperial College School of Medicine

Senior lecturer

London, United Kingdom

Dr. Santosh Chowdhary

Bhaktivedanta Hospital & Research Institute

Mumbai, India

Dr. Shyam Jaiswal

Care Hospitals

Consultant Neurologist

Hyderabad, India

Dr. Siva Prasad G

Bhaktivedanta Hospital & Research Institute

Consultant Urologist

Mumbai, India

Dr. Uma Pittala

Henry Ford Health System

Internal Medicine

Detroit, USA

Dr. Kavitha Chintala

Apollo Health City

Consultant Pediatric Cardiologist & HOD

Hyderabad, India

Prasanna Tadi, M.D.

Program Director for Vascular Neurology (Stroke) Fellowship Program

Director of Wellness for GME

Stroke/Vascular Neurologist

Clinical Associate Professor of Neurology

ABPN Diplomate, Board Certified in Neurology and Vascular Neurology

Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center

Piyush Gupta, MD, MBA

Internal Medicine

The Ohio State University 

MIT Sloan School of Management 

Acknowledgements:

HG Guru Gauranga Das, GBC Emeritus for his guidance in drafting this document