Russians are outraged at being told not to drink alcohol for two months after getting COVID-19 vaccination

Tram Ho

Many Russians were outraged after a health official warned that recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine should abstain from drinking alcohol for several weeks before and after the injection, Reuters reports.

Anna Popova, the head of Russia’s consumer health watchdog, spoke on national radio on Tuesday (December 8) to tell people they should not drink alcohol in the last two weeks. when the first shot of Sputnik V vaccine was given. She added that people receiving the vaccine should “stay awake” for another six weeks to ensure a strong immune response. Be aware that there is a 21-day gap between the two Sputnik vaccinations.

Elena Kriven, a Moscow city resident, told Reuters : “I think the stress on the body when quitting alcohol, especially during the festival, will be worse than (the side effect of the vaccine). -xin) and its supposed benefits.

However, both Russian and American vaccine experts believe that Popova’s advice is too extreme. Alexander Gintsburg, a Russian vaccine developer, shared on Twitter about the Sputnik V vaccine that “a single glass of champagne will not hurt anyone.”

In another tweet, Gintsburg recommended that people abstain from alcohol for 3 days before and after each injection of any vaccine, not just Sputnik.

Người Nga phẫn nộ vì bị yêu cầu không uống rượu trong 2 tháng sau khi tiêm vắc-xin COVID-19 - Ảnh 1.

But William Moss, CEO of the Center for International Vaccine Access at Johns Hopkins University (USA), said there is no data to support such advice.

“There is no evidence that, if you drink a beer or a glass of alcohol a few days after the vaccination, it affects the body’s immune response or defenses,” Moss said. . “When that view is expressed in such an extreme, I think it really does harm the public health.”

Of course, too much alcohol consumption can weaken the human immune system. According to the CDC, chronic and excessive alcohol use – eight or more drinks per week for women and 15 or more drinks for men – can have some harmful effects on the body, Moss says.

Studies have shown that drinking alcohol affects the gut microflora and can damage the immune cells located in the gut, considered the first line of defense against viruses and bacteria. Another study found that binge drinking decreased the ability of some white blood cells to fight infection in the hours after intoxication.

Having a strong immune system is especially important during a pandemic, so cutting down on alcohol can be a wise decision. But according to Moss, there are not too many studies specifically looking at the interactions between vaccines and alcohol, since most vaccines have been used in children until now.

Người Nga phẫn nộ vì bị yêu cầu không uống rượu trong 2 tháng sau khi tiêm vắc-xin COVID-19 - Ảnh 2.

Many Russians think that not drinking alcohol during holidays is worse than not getting vaccinated.

The other problem, however, is that the world doesn’t know much about the effectiveness of Russian vaccines. The country approved the Sputnik V vaccine for public use in August, but has yet to release any data from phase 3 trials to determine the vaccine’s effectiveness.

The Sputnik V vaccine is a vaccine using adenovirus vector technology, which carries part of the coronavirus on the inactive version of a less toxic virus. The pharmacy candidates AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson use a similar technology.

On 11/11 – two days after Pfizer-BioNTech announced promising results on their vaccine trials – the Russian government released a press release that Sputnik V was 92% effective. after the second dose. However, they have yet to release complete, peer-reviewed data from phase 1 and 2 trials, which has created a “secret atmosphere” around the vaccine.

Refer to BI

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Source : Genk