With more and more people registering to receive their first dose of the Covid vaccine in Ireland, people are beginning to wonder what precautions should be taken before and after receiving the jab.
The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention previously published guidelines which asked people to refrain from taking pain medication, such as ibuprofen, immediately after receiving the vaccine and to consult your GP about feeling any discomfort afterwards as it is an expected side effect.
Recently UK health experts and immunologists have warned against consuming alcohol before and after receiving any of the Covid-19 vaccines available, as it may hinder the body’s ability to build up a defence.
Dr Sheen Cruickshank from the University of Manchester told UK Metro: “You need to have your immune system working tip-top to have a good response to the vaccine, so if you're drinking the night before, or shortly afterwards, that's not going to help.”
Alcohol charities have joined in asking people to err on the side of caution by dropping the booze for two weeks after getting the jab.
The charity Drinkaware told the Mirror that there is a chance heavy drinking "could" interfere with your body's ability to develop immunity after taking the vaccine.
Head of the consumer health watchdog in Russia Anna Popova told the a local radio station in December 2020, that people should stop drinking alcohol at least two weeks before getting the first of two injections of the Sputnik V vaccine.
“They should continue to abstain for a further 42 days”, she advised.
This advice was quickly described as “too extreme” by one of the developers of the Sputnik V vaccine, Alexander Gintsburg, PhD, who countered with a suggestion that people who have received the vaccine to “refrain from alcohol for three days after each injection.”
The Russian Ambassador to Ireland, Yuriy Filatov, recently told the Irish government that the country was willing to help with vaccine supplies after receiving letters from many Irish citizens.
In an email to Independent TD Richard O’Donoghue, Mr Filatov stated: “I would like to assure all of them that we would like to help and are open for any discussions on vaccine supplies to Ireland as well as other aspects of cooperation with the Russian vaccine producers – if there is an interest on the Irish Government side.”
The US currently has no data on the effect of alcohol in relation to the protection offered from the vaccine, as trial participants were not asked to refrain from drinking alcohol during the initial trials.
