IS A NEW COVID WAVE COMING? NO, SAYS DR. RAVI GODSE.

If you see or hear this Doc from the US, chances are you won’t ever be able to take him out of your thoughts. Dr. Ravi Godse, MD, Internal Medicine, USA  has a way with words. And this is unmistakably more than evident, whenever you may find him- in his tweets, short videos on social media, YouTube speeches or the occasional television debates on the topics related to Covid. Or just recently, even Monkeypox. He knows his subject well and the audience, even better. Along with the knowledge and abundant confidence, he mixes logic, urdu couplets and a dash of Bollywood, pulling out a spellbinding presentation.

When I once asked him about the general expectations of nobility from the medical profession and the kind spirit of service without expecting any worldly monetary returns, he, in his own inimitable style, explained, “You know, this spirit of service is great. Must be there for all. I agree. Let them all do service without expectations. You only expect a Doctor to serve with this spirit ? I agree, too. Okay, even the biggest capitalist nations must think about it. But, if you organize a play based on the Mahabharata, would you pay the same amount of remuneration to the two artistes – one playing Arjuna’s role and the other one doing Nakula? Probably not. Why? Weren’t they supposed to be brothers? You will have to pay more to the artist portraying Arjun’s character. Similarly, a doctor’s job has to be incentivised. Or who would want to be one? Think of a scientist. He slogs to find a hundred vaccines.  Only one or two find buyers. Is that his fault? He has already invested time, money, efforts and energy for all his work. He has funded the scientific processes for all the hundred vaccines. This includes trials, patenting, applying, licensing, production, supplying, monitoring etc. If problems show up, he also has to find solutions. What do you want him to do now? Would you indulge in this, if it’s full of only losses? It has to be sufficiently incentivised to be fruitful. Greed is bad, incentivising isn’t.”

When Dr. Ravi spoke while discussing scientists, Dr. Ravi suggested that the ‘he’ be replaced by ‘she’, since most of the scientists and innovators are women these days.

He spent his childhood in Dombivli, a Mumbai  suburb, studied in Marathi medium and wanted to be a history professor when grown up. He recalls, “My mother asked me, whom would you teach? It is good as a hobby. But, who is interested in learning history? People who ignore the history are often condemned to repeat it and we are good at ignoring history.”

He found himself in KEM Hospital studying medicine for his MBBS and MD. He came to the US for  another MD and is now into private practice in Pennsylvania.

What is so special that the Indian doctors are considered more successful among all the doctors abroad?

Dr Ravi Godse says, “The Indian doctors are a little more friendly. The patients in the US probably like it that way. Indian doctors turn friendly as soon as they leave India !”

On Father’s day, he tweeted, ” What did Covid say to Chinese authorities? Happy father’s Day !!”

He has been saying that Omicron BA 4 and 5 will not cause severe disease. In June 2022, it was him who confidently said, “There will be no fresh Covid wave in India, as over 100 crore people have been infected with Omicron ( without increased hospitalizations) AND people are doubly protected due to  a spectacular vaccination drive.”

At the peak of  2nd wave in 2021, he had claimed that there will be no 3rd wave in India and the pandemic there shall end by July 1st 2021. It turned out to be true.

What now? I had asked him in March 2022. He had smiled and insisted, ” The same holds true, even today.” His line proved to be true, yet again.

He had then told me, “Where we have reached, I am sure, masks may not be useful. No point in making people compulsorily wear masks.  We have to celebrate life and its festivities. Omicron is not dangerous as compared to Delta. Just protect the vulnerable. We can’t stop Omicron but  it won’t stop us too. Better take vaccine and booster. If we are on a Titanic, don’t measure the iceberg by testing, find lifeboats, and since we have done this before, how about avoiding hitting the iceberg in the first place? And one more thing. China tried for zero Covid. It is not possible.”

Calls for compulsory use of masks and lockdowns continue to be his favourite objects of ridicule. In a recent video, he asks, “Why isolate somebody to stop something that can not be stopped and something that is not causing serious illness in most people anyway?”  This time, his idea is to shortlist the vulnerable people and keep a tab on them while the rest go on with routine life.

In one of his recent videos posted on 5th august, 2022, he goes about it like this,

“Most Indians had Omicron in January 2022. Most of them have also taken the vaccine. Still, it is not only possible but likely that they will be reinfected with BA 4 / 5. Nothing to worry about. Most of the people will be fine. It will not drop the Oxygen, send you to the hospital or kill you. It will not cause a wave. My friendly advice would be, if you are low risk, asymptomatic, don’t do testing. If you do the test, the result will not come in time for you to take the medication, which is, as it is not available in India.”

“So, is there something you can do?” he asks adding, “You know what I want to say? Vaccinate the kids? The kids are protected anyways. The chance of serious disease is low. Vaccination gives them an additional layer of protection. Consider it. And take the third dose. Precaution dose… what a lame name, yaar. Call it a booster dose. Anyway, nobody is taking the booster, though. And some people are rightly waiting for the Omicron adjusted booster that the US will release in about five to six weeks. This battle can not be won..? No, I think we are at a position where we can not lose. We are not winning the battle because nobody can agree on what constitutes a victory. So, what should you do? I am just saying that there are going to be a lot of cases.”

He then continues, “Don’t worry. So you are planning to ignore it anyway. You are not testing, nobody is taking a booster, nobody is vaccinating the kids, the meds are not available, BA 4, 5 infections are going to happen, can not stop them, it is not causing a wave, it is not causing drop in Oxygen or hospitalisation..so why not just lead the life and ignore it? We can do that, actually.” He ends the video by asking, ” So, why did I make this video?”

Then, he replies, “I don’t know. Maybe I shouldn’t have..” and signs off.

He has his reservations about increasing testing, though. One of his recent remarks is, “Increased testing to reduce Covid is like bribing the officials to reduce corruption.” Peculiar of him, isn’t it?

In another of his tweets, he signed off by remarking, “..Excess testing is neither smart nor scientific.”

He simply doesn’t seem to find the idea of increasing testing logical. His cryptic reply recently posted in a video on social media goes thus, “What can be done if the testing is increased from 100 cases to 10 thousand? The only way to control Omicron BA 4,5 is, there is no way. It can’t be defeated but it can’t defeat you.  In hundred thousand cases, a hundred may reach the hospital and less than ten may lose their lives. What we need to do is to minimize the chances of getting into the stage of hospitalization. There are three ways to achieve that. One is the booster dose. But nobody seems to be taking it. The second way is Paxlovid.  The third is Bebtelovimab. Nobody may have heard this name. If any case reaches hospitalization stage, a new medicine is coming up to help to reduce the seriousness of the case. Sabizabulin. You can take it orally. Once a day. Even a patient’s relative may bring it for him.  The US may accord permission in two weeks. India should grant it permission right away instead of appointing committees to decide on it. And India can adjust Covaxin formula to cover BA 4,5”

‘Some countries in the world are googling the word Sabizabulin. In a few weeks, this medication will be approved. In case you are wondering, Sabizabulin is an old cancer medication that is repurposed. It works against microtubules. And works in Covid patients who are seriously ill and hospitalized requiring Oxygen. It is true that the risk of going to hospital with Omicron subvariants, including BA 4 and 5, is low. It is lower for people with the disease and with vaccines. It is much lower with people with vaccines and the booster.’ Then, he proceeds further by asking, ” Why lose a single life, bring to India the medications that work and are already approved in the US.”

Has the media indulged in scare mongering during previous waves? There were reports that probably somehow appeared to have been designed to instill fear.

Dr Godse shares his view, ” It is easy to blame the media, forgetting the fact that the media is socially, morally and financially obliged to post the content that the viewers are clicking on. The consumers who are looking for news are ultimately responsible for whatever they are  reading or watching.  If there are two videos being offered.. In one, I am talking about a species jump in zoonotic diseases due to deforestation.  The other video is showing how domestic dogs performed in a traditional wedding ceremony. The second will go viral.“