Ayurveda: Vaccination is not unayurvedic!

It is now the middle of July. And things are still going wrong in the country. Hardened fronts are bitterly opposed. The subject of the dispute: the issue of vaccination against the coronavirus. What we Learn with Ayurveda from Corona have already been discussed. But what does Ayurveda actually say about vaccinations in general - and vaccination against the coronavirus in particular?

Making the right decision - essential in Ayurveda

In order to be able to make a beneficial Ayurvedic decision, we must first make a distinction. This applies to the decision in favour of or against a vaccination just as it does to everything else. We therefore need data and facts about the current situation, empirical values from the past, self-experience and the ability to draw logical conclusions. Without these „means of knowledge“, it is difficult to make a truly healthy decision. And this is precisely where the problem lies:

Which data, facts and empirical values can we trust?
Who interprets the figures and what is their motivation?

Unfortunately, politicians and scientists have not exactly covered themselves in glory since the start of the pandemic. How often have they contradicted themselves and revealed their own interests? The pinnacle was the personal enrichment from mask deals.
This behaviour fuelled mistrust and destroyed the most important asset for many in times of crisis: Trust. As a result, conspiracy theories were given an ideal breeding ground, which today characterises the arguments of many anti-vaccination campaigners - and makes (respectful) communication between anti-vaccination campaigners and pro-vaccination campaigners difficult or even impossible. Not to mention the fact that conspiracy theories cloud our view of data, facts and our own experiences and prevent us from making informed decisions.

An example from my practice: Yesterday I received a call from someone „interested“ in an initial consultation. Instead of focussing on her health concerns, her focus was on the question of whether I was required to wear a mask and would therefore follow the coronavirus dictatorship. That would be an exclusion criterion for her. We were living in a „Heil-Merkel“ dictatorship in which we would now have to fight for freedom. At that moment, I broke off the conversation and didn't make an appointment.

The virus is not the real problem. Viruses have always existed, as have pandemics. They were already described in the Caraka Samhita 2,000 years ago. Keeping your distance to protect yourself from infection was also mentioned in the classics. That's only natural.

Our problem lies in catastrophising and the resulting panicked behaviour. Many people have forgotten to trust their own senses and to scrutinise events logically. Instead, they follow the global „key figures“ on a daily basis and read one study after another without really being able to understand and contextualise them. If we have to rely on studies by „aerosol researchers“ to understand that viruses spread more easily indoors than outdoors, then we have a massive problem!

Corona vaccination in Ayurveda: wrong or right?

Let's move on to the current question of vaccination: yes or no? Firstly, a self-revelation: I have been critical of vaccination ever since. That doesn't mean that I reject vaccinations in principle. However, I personally scrutinise which vaccinations are really useful and which are superfluous.

When I travelled to India for the first time almost 30 years ago, the Tropical Institute recommended a whole bouquet of „protective“ vaccinations: In addition to tetanus and polio boosters, I should be vaccinated against hepatitis A and B, cholera, typhoid and meningococcus. I also had to take malaria prophylaxis. The protective effect against cholera at the time was stated as 35% and against typhoid fever as around 50%.

I thought about it and asked myself the following questions:

How likely is it that I will actually encounter my natural „enemies“?
When I meet them, what do I have to counter them with?
If they are stronger than my defences and I fall ill accordingly, how well can the acute illness be treated?
Is the disease a vital threat?
Will the disease heal completely or should I perhaps expect after-effects or complications - and how well could these be treated?

After weighing things up for a while, I decided to for tetanus, polio and hepatitis A - and against the rest.

Corona vaccination: Ayurvedic guiding questions for the decision

A similar approach is also advisable with regard to the corona vaccination offered. In my practice, I first ask about the vaccination history and then about the state of health and lifestyle:

What have you already been vaccinated against and what experiences have you had with your previous vaccinations?
What state is your immune system currently in? Are you prone to excessive immune responses or autoimmune diseases?
Do you have any pre-existing conditions?
What is your nutritional and general condition?
What lifestyle do you lead?

The ten-fold Ayurvedic examination (Dashavidha Pariksha) is an excellent way of weighing up individual circumstances and making a personally beneficial decision. In addition, we can also record possible contacts and exposures as part of an occupational, family and social anamnesis. Finally, the mental state plays an important role: a vaccination can reduce anxiety and the associated avoidance behaviour in some people - in others, the exact opposite happens.

It is a certainty that we will come into contact with SARS-CoV-2 sooner or later. We therefore only need to ask ourselves one question: Do I want to live through a natural infection or produce antibodies in advance through a vaccination that can take direct effect in the event of contact? Both ways have advantages and disadvantages.

Ayurveda is the path to the centre

Vaccination is not unayurvedic. Neither is remaining unvaccinated. Neither is eating meat, having operations, taking antibiotics or cortisone.

Of course, all these measures are not desirable from an Ayurvedic point of view, but they are sometimes necessary. A system such as Ayurveda must be able to recognise its own limitations and act for the benefit of the patient. Conventional medicine is not an opponent, but our partner.

Ayurveda is solely the golden path of the centre, from which we can make individual, beneficial decisions. We can strengthen our immune system by no longer weakening it through an unhealthy diet and lifestyle. By using Rasayana methods with an immunomodulating effect, susceptibilities can be reduced and acute infections overcome more easily.

There is no right and wrong, good and bad, healthy and unhealthy. The language of Ayurveda distinguishes between „beneficial“ and „detrimental“. An experienced Ayurvedic doctor analyses whether, when and what is beneficial or detrimental for whom. In doing so, he is also prepared to overcome personal beliefs.