Vaccines are vitally important for tackling the coronavirus pandemic.
The government hopes that despite new restrictions such as Plan B, as well as further restrictions possible in the form of 'Plan C ', hospital admissions will be lower due to vaccinations.
When the UK was forced to lockdown in 2020 and early 2021, most of the population was unvaccinated against the virus.
Receiving the vaccine should not be too much of an inconvenience unless you are someone who may have a reaction to it.
Some people have experienced brief, flu-like symptoms after receiving it, but most are expected to be fighting fit and are welcome to socialise after being vaccinated.
So can you drink alcohol before and after your vaccine?
Can I drink alcohol before or after having the Covid-19 vaccine?
It is probably best to avoid drinking before and after the vaccine and you are only damaging yourself if you have been drinking excessively.
Alcohol may harm your immune response triggered by the vaccine by suppressing your immune system. If your immune system is slower to react, then the effectiveness of the vaccine could be impacted.
As for drinking after receiving the vaccine, people have been known to have side effects caused by the jab.
Alcohol will not help any of these symptoms and is not a cure for feeling ill, it is just likely to dehydrate you and you will feel worse.
Can alcohol affect the immune system?
When a person is exposed to a virus, the body's antibodies are tasked with fighting off this illness.
Healthier people with better and faster immune systems can fight viruses off more quickly. This is why older people are more at risk from viruses like Covid-19, as their immune response is typically slower.
Yale Medicine addiction medicine specialist Dr. E. Jennifer Edelman, told Healthline: "Alcohol has diverse adverse effects throughout the body, including on all cells of the immune system, that lead to increased risk of serious infections."
"With COVID-19, alcohol is likely to interfere with an individual’s ability to clear SARS-CoV-2 and cause people to suffer worse outcomes."
What are the side effects of the coronavirus vaccine?
In February, around one in three people reported some kind of side effect from the vaccine, including some soreness around the area the needle penetrated the skin.
Side effects are caused by the body's response to the vaccine and not the virus itself.
Dr Anna Goodman of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, in London, told the BBC that a heavier response to the vaccine does not mean you are more immune to the virus than others.
She said: "Because you have more fever, that doesn't mean you are more immune."
"You can't presume it to."
People have been known to experience the following side effects caused by receiving the vaccine:
