By Graham Lawton
Jon Super/AP/Shutterstock
Drinking alcohol after getting a coronavirus vaccine can substantially blunt the immune response and possibly render the vaccine inadequate, according to a leading Russian scientist. “We highly advise avoiding alcohol for 3 days after each injection,” Alexander Gintsburg, head of the Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, which is establishing the Sputnik V vaccine, told New Scientist
This warning doesn’t just apply to the Sputnik V vaccine, however all covid-19 vaccines and undoubtedly all other vaccines. “This is quite apparent,” he said.
Existing scientific literature on alcohol and the body immune system reveals that excess alcohol is an immunosuppressant so individuals who drink a lot are more susceptible to infections. “Problem drinkers have numerous problems and poor immune function is one of them,” says immunologist Eleanor Riley at the University of Edinburgh, UK.
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In trials, about 10 percent of individuals don’t become immune after getting the Sputnik V vaccine and the figure is comparable for other vaccines. The reasons for this are unknown. Whether alcohol could be an aspect hasn’t been investigated.
A 2012 research study by researchers in Sweden discovered that low-to-moderate alcohol consumption somewhat reduced the inflammatory reaction to a vaccine versus bacterial pneumonia, but had no influence on the immune response. The scientists specified this level of alcohol intake as an average intake of less than 30 grams a day, about the same as 2 double vodkas.
Gintsburg stated that drinking 300 grams of vodka– about 12 UK procedures, which contain a total of about 120 grams of alcohol– reduces antibody production. One glass of champagne would be OKAY, he said.
Recently, Anna Popova, the head of the Russian Federal Service for Security on Consumer Rights Defense and Human Wellbeing ( Rospotrebnadzor), triggered a controversy in Russia when she advised Russians to quit drinking alcohol two weeks prior to their very first vaccine shot and for a more 3 weeks after the second. There is a three-week gap between injections so that is a total of 8 weeks on the wagon.
Gintsburg informed New Researcher that this was too rigid. “Naturally, we are not discussing a complete restriction on alcohol during vaccination. This is just an affordable restriction of usage till the body has actually formed its own immune action to coronavirus infection,” he said. “It is essential to comprehend that excessive alcohol consumption can significantly lower immunity and for that reason decrease the effectiveness of vaccination and even make it worthless. Additionally, this is true not just for Sputnik V, but also for any other vaccine.”
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Mutual Fund, which is moneying the Sputnik V programme, says: “It applies to all vaccines, there is absolutely nothing particular about Sputnik vaccine that makes it more prone to alcohol consumption.”
Some people may want to err on the side of care, says Paul Klenerman at the University of Oxford. “There’s no doubt that chronic excess alcohol has a significant effect on many elements of immunity,” he states.
New Scientist reached a volunteer on the UK arm of the trial of the vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. There was no guideline to abstain from alcohol around the time of vaccination, the volunteer said.
A volunteer on the UK-based Imperial College London vaccine scientific trial likewise said there was no requirement to avoid alcohol. An info sheet given to trial individuals states that individuals with “thought or understood existing alcohol or drug dependence” can not take part in the study.
Pfizer has stated that there is no cautioning about alcohol intake associated with the vaccine it has actually developed with BioNTech. AstraZeneca, which has actually signed a deal to work together with the Sputnik V job, didn’t respond to a request for information on alcohol and vaccination.
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