Covid lockdown disaster for the poor

Covid lockdown disaster for the poor, disadvantaged and children: Dr Srinivas Kakkilaya interviewed by Sri Sanjeev Sabhlok (IAS res.)

Sanjeev Sabhlok interviewed Dr Srinivas Kakkilaya of Mangalore on Oct 3, 2021 re: India’s covid panic and catastrophic policies (see the interview on YouTube).

Topics discussed include:
– Impact of lockdowns on India (police brutalities, impact on migrant and daily wage labour, impact on children, impact on diagnosis of other diseases, impact on other vaccines for children, any other impacts)
– average age of death of covid patients, and average co-morbidity profile
– Capacity of health system (particularly government hospitals) – and the oxygen issue in 2021
– True number of covid deaths in India: greater or fewer (different views in the literature)
– How well did the models do?
– Impact of cross-reactivity or other prior immunity (trained immunity from BCG, etc.)
– Level of anti-bodies today and expectation of resurgence
– Debates about ivermectin and HCQ – do these work? To what extent were these used?
– Increasing compulsion for vaccines (e.g. Railways). Do all people need vaccines?
– Does India expect vaccine passports? Any preparation underway?

Among the things he noted:
1. Vaccines are largely unnecessary in India with around 80% of the people having antibodies. There is virtually no chance of any additional major wave in India.

2. Natural immunity is far stronger than vaccine immunity – and there are virtually no confirmed cases of re-infection if one has already had covid.

3. Vaccines must not to be given to children, in any case – since they have virtually no risk from covid and their immunity is extremely strong (and doesn’t over-react, as it does with people who’ve had a bad diet all their lives).

4. Ivermectin and HCQ have not been proven to work. The low rate of deaths in slums like Dharavi is attributable to cross-reactivity (from previous coronaviruses) – he also thinks that the combination of some such drugs given by many doctors in India could be dangerous for those with heart disease.

5. Despite an incentive to report non-covid deaths in India as covid deaths (the government promised $1000 AUD equivalent for covid deaths),  there were few social incentives for people to report non-covid cases as covid. The total number of covid deaths was probably 5-7 times higher in India than what was officially reported

Sanjeev Sabhlok