Why Sputnik-V Vaccine Prohibits Drinking Alcohol, And Should Indians Be Worried
Some people definitely got a shocker yesterday when they found out that the recipients of the Sputnik V vaccine are asked to avoid drinking alcohol for two whole months to not affect the vaccine from developing the immunity in the body.
After living a whole year with the fear of contracting the novel coronavirus, the vaccines are finally out. We¡¯re seeing Pfizer-BioNTech vaccinate citizens in the UK while Russia gears to vaccinate more people across its nation.
However, some people definitely got a shocker yesterday when they found out that the recipients of the Sputnik V vaccine are asked to avoid drinking alcohol for two whole months to not affect the vaccine from developing the immunity in the body.
Reuters
Even though authorities have not banned the consumption of alcohol entirely, they strongly urge avoiding consuming alcohol to help the vaccine be the most effective.
The vaccine could soon make its way to India
And while this vaccine is actively being used only in Russia, it won¡¯t be long for the vaccine to arrive in India, if everything goes well. Along with vaccines from Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech seeking regulatory approval for emergency use, Sputnik V is also in the race for being approved in India.
In case you didn¡¯t know the vaccine is already being tested at Kanpur¡¯s Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Medical College after Dr Reddy¡¯s Laboratories received the approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).
Reuters
What does alcohol do to vaccine?
While scientists who have developed the Sputnik V vaccine haven¡¯t exactly revealed what goes wrong, except that it impacts the vaccine¡¯s process of forming immunity, I stumbled upon a study by Patricia E. Molina, a professor and department head of Physiology at Louisiana State University, where she revealed that extreme alcohol consumption suppresses multiple arms of the immune response, leading to an increased risk of infections.
She said, ¡°The course and resolution of both bacterial and viral infections are severely impaired in alcohol-abusing patients, resulting in greater patient morbidity and mortality.¡± While I¡¯m not saying that¡¯s exactly what could happen, it is something that should surely be noted.
And we¡¯ve already heard countless times that alcohol must not be mixed with medications, something that even the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has issued guidelines to warn people against, so it¡¯s just better to be safe than sorry.
Reuters
Will all vaccines require users to refrain from alcohol consumption?
If the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine doesn't allow alcohol drinking, what about other vaccines currently being considered and approved? Well, to be honest, we don't know much about the dietary advisory related to these vaccines and their trials.
Pfizer-BioNTech¡¯s BNT162b, as that¡¯s the only vaccine that¡¯s been approved for use by not just the UK, but also Canada now. In the user guidelines for BNT162b2, they haven¡¯t really mentioned any precaution for the consumption of alcohol post-vaccination as of now, although it could change later, depending on the situation.
Oxford-AstraZeneca also hasn¡¯t revealed any such precautions with its vaccine, although it hasn¡¯t really received any regulatory approval as of now.
