AVOIDING beer, wine and vodka may be a good idea when you get your Covid vaccine.
Alcohol may dampen the body’s ability to respond to the jab, rendering it “meaningless” in fighting against the coronavirus, experts claim.
The Pfizer vaccine was the first in the world to be approved by safety regulators in the UK, and a roll-out started on December 8.
Health officials in the UK have made no reference to keeping alcohol consumption to the minimum in order to receive the jab.
But a leading Russian scientist involved in the development of the Sputnik V vaccine has said it is “strongly” advised against for any jab.
Dr Alexander Gintsburg, head of the Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, told New Scientist: “We strongly recommend refraining from alcohol for three days after each injection.”
Officials in Russia have asked citizens there to lay off the booze if they want an injection.
Russia was one of the first countries to announce a vaccine, which was named after the Soviet Union's satellite which became the first manmade object in space.
It was announced before beginning its final clinical trials - and it remains uncertified while in its third stage of testing involving some 40,000 volunteers.
The Sputnik V vaccine takes 42 days to become effective, during which time people should stop drinking, according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova.
Dr Anna Popova, the head of the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, which is helping to co-ordinate Russia’s response to Covid-19, suggested going cold turkey for two weeks before their first shot, and for three weeks after their second.
Given there are three weeks between the two jabs, she was suggesting someone quit the booze for around eight weeks.
Dr Gintsburg said this was too stringent, and suggested a “reasonable limitation” rather than a “complete ban”.
A glass of champagne during the festive period should be fine, but a binge drinking session is likely to have a negative effect.
In the UK, guidelines advise men and women to stick to 14 units of alcohol per week to avoid the harms of alcohol, which is about 6-8 cans of beer or one to two bottles of wine depending on the strength of the alcohol.
Dr Gintsburg claimed: “It is important to understand that excessive alcohol consumption can significantly reduce immunity and therefore reduce the effectiveness of vaccination or even make it meaningless."
He claimed that heavy alcohol "supresses antibodies", which are the proteins in blood that help attack the virus.
“Moreover, this is true not only for Sputnik V, but also for any other vaccine", Dr Gintsburg said.
He said it was “quite obvious” to avoid booze for any Covid-19 vaccine, despite no other research team warning against it so far.
How much alcohol is recommended?
To keep health risks from alcohol to a low level if you drink most weeks:
- men and women are advised not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis
- spread your drinking over 3 or more days if you regularly drink as much as 14 units a week
- if you want to cut down, try to have several drink-free days each week
Fourteen units of alcohol a week equates to six small glasses of wine, six pints of lager or five pints of cider.
Look at the NHS website to work out how many units are in your favourite drink.
It’s well known that alcohol in large quantities can make the immune system weaker, because alcoholics are more likely to catch infections.
“Heavy drinkers have many problems and poor immune function is one of them,” immunologist Eleanor Riley at the University of Edinburgh said.
Dr Popova warned alcohol would reduce the body’s ability to build up immunity to Covid-19 because “it’s a strain on the body”.
“If we want to be healthy and have a strong immune response, don’t drink alcohol,” she said.
Both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and NHS say long-term alcohol use can impact immune activity.
NHS Inform says: “Choosing to cut back on how much you drink may help reduce related health risks and complications linked to coronavirus.
“Alcohol can reduce the immune system’s ability to fight off infectious diseases and have an impact on the health of your heart and lungs.”
But the specifics surrounding Covid infection and alcohol consumption remain unconfirmed, however, because this has not been studied.
Just because the body of a heavy drinker does not fight an infection, does not mean it wouldn’t kick into action in response to a vaccine.
Paul Klenerman at the University of Oxford said there was no evidence to support going teetotal before your jab.
He said: “There’s no doubt that chronic excess alcohol has a significant impact on many aspects of immunity.
“What isn’t clear is whether just a small amount would have any significant effect in [real-life settings]. So it is plausible and you could simply be very cautious and say avoid it. Different countries might end up giving different guidance.”
About 10 per cent of people don’t become immune after receiving the Sputnik V vaccine, trials have found.
It was five per cent for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine, and 30 per cent for the Oxford jab, on average.
The reasons for this are unknown and the studies did not measure whether there was a link with how much alcohol the participants consumed.
Studies suggest alcohol consumption has increased in the UK during the pandemic, a result of strained mental health, boredom and the closure of pubs.
Pfizer has said that there is no warning concerning alcohol consumption given to those receiving the vaccine it has developed with BioNTech.
AstraZeneca, which has signed a deal to collaborate with the Sputnik V project, didn’t respond to a request from New Scientist for information on alcohol and vaccination.
The Sun contacted the MHRA for comment.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiUmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZXN1bi5jby51ay9uZXdzLzEzNDcyMjQ5L3doeS15b3Utc2hvdWxkLWF2b2lkLWFsY29ob2wtY292aWQtdmFjY2luZS_SAVZodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVzdW4uY28udWsvbmV3cy8xMzQ3MjI0OS93aHkteW91LXNob3VsZC1hdm9pZC1hbGNvaG9sLWNvdmlkLXZhY2NpbmUvYW1wLw?oc=5
2020-12-14 14:01:00Z
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