The current desperate COVID-19 pandemic has been continuously affecting the world since December 2019. As a result, over 655,689,115 persons were affected and 6,671,624 died globally till 3 January 2023 (Organization, 2023), including more than 44,678,956 cases in India with 530,707 deaths. Researchers around the world have made several unprecedented ways to repurpose already known drugs to treat COVID-19 infection. Various clinical trials related to the repurposing of drugs including hydroxychloroquine (HCQ)(Boulware et al., 2020), and Remdesivir (anti-viral drug)(Grein et al., 2020) have been reported. However, no success has been observed in protection against the disease. Mild to moderate COVID-19 cases are getting recovered over a long period and have higher transmission efficiency, creating a hysterical situation by increasing community transmission.

World Health Organization (WHO) has recently recognized the medicinal importance of Traditional Medicine (TM) after the success of various Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in treating COVID-19 (Li et al., 2020, Yang et al., 2020). Also, Girija and Sivan 2020(Girija and Sivan, 2020)., showed that a patient recovered from COVID-19 within a short period with Ayurvedic medicines only. Hence, traditional Ayurvedic medicines along with their formulation of protocols and guidelines of clinical use to treat COVID-19 patients with/without integration could help in the successful management of the disease. Interventions based on the MEURI (Monitored Emergency Use of Unregistered and Experimental Interventions) were sanctioned by the WHO and authorized by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) as per the National Guidelines for Ethical Committees for Reviewing Biomedical and Research during the COVID Pandemic(Kumar et al., 2020a, Kumar et al., 2020b). This approved the studies related to Ayurveda.

Clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of various Ayurvedic drugs like Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera (L.) and AYUSH 64 as prophylaxis, and Guduci/Pippali (Tinospora cordifolia (Thunb.) Miers/Piper longum L.), and Yashtimadhu (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.) for the management of COVID-19 have been submitted by AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy).

The treatment of COVID-19 by Ayurveda is based on the patient’s symptomatic clinical presentations, such as Vishama Jwara, Agantuja jwara, Shwasa, Kasa etc. and the disease progression. Immunity plays an important role in incidence as well as the severity of an illness. During this while, an attempt was also made to explore the effectiveness of known immune boosters supplements available in Ayurveda. Recently, the authors have shown the beneficial effects of Ayurvedic Rasayana botanicals for their immunomodulatory and antiviral activities in the management of COVID-19 (Borse et al., 2021). In this study we aim to appraise the Ayurveda treatment protocol and their clinical outcomes to add-on to the conventional care among mild and moderate COVID-19 patients admitted in COVID health care center (CHC).