Russian vaccine: “Alcohol consumption has no effect …

Two days ago, “an unknown fact” about the Russian vaccine was released. Newspapers and portals around the world have decontextualized the words of Russian Deputy Minister Tatiana Golíkova on the need to “reduce the consumption of drugs and alcohol that suppress the immune system in the first 42 days “, after applying the first dose. In this sense, as Sputnik V, developed by the Gamaleya Center, will be the first variant that will immunize Argentines from the last week of December, the news spread quickly and became viral in the national territory.

Confronted with this, Conicet researchers came to a crossroads and said there was not enough scientific evidence to say that drinking alcohol can inhibit the drug’s effectiveness. to generate the necessary defenses against future covid-19 infection. In this context, one of the most important voices has been that of Jorge Geffner, doctor in biochemistry and principal researcher of the Council, which assures that drinking alcohol would not be counterproductive.

“The main problem is that things are taken out of context. On the Russian scene, alcoholism is a very serious problem and the words of the Deputy Minister are much better understood. In Argentina, some media gave him to interpret in a bad way, as if you had to abstain completely from alcohol for 42 days, ”he says. Then continue with the factual explanation: “Family admission, recreational (for example, a glass of wine at noon and another in the evening) causes absolutely nothing in the body’s immune response, do not modify it directly. And, therefore, it is not counterproductive to the vaccine-induced immune response. No one should stop consuming anything ”.

In this sense, he continued to break down the misunderstanding so as not to instill fear, especially when they have no hold. “Russian official probably mentioned alcoholism which not only alters the immune response to covid, but also harms many other bodily systems. The liver is an organ that participates in our defense systems through the production of a set of key mediators. However, the fact that alcohol affects people with drinking problems is not the same as saying that no one will be able to drink it for a month and a half.», Specifies the specialist. Patients with alcohol problems face all kinds of metabolic alterations, glucose and hormone problems. Even many tend to progress to cirrhosis of the liver, that is, a picture of dysfunction of the liver as a whole.

Some media took advantage of the grayness of the speech of the Russian vice-minister and raised the alarm among the local population because, as expected, the start of mass vaccination in Argentina would coincide – a priori – with the Christmas holidays and the New Year. . “In the event that the first doses of the Russian vaccine coincide with the holidays, nothing will happen either. Liver dysfunction that could alter the normal functioning of our defenses is linked to chronic alcohol consumption, ”he assures us. And he maintains: “It doesn’t affect if one day, because you are special, instead of drinking two glasses, you drink the whole bottle. There will be no problem with that in case the drugs arrive by the end of this year.“.

The way the Western world circulates and consumes information also has a lot to do with the position on all the news coming out of the Eurasian giant, Russia. Even though it was the first nation Starting with a large-scale inoculation, graphic press headlines around the world decided to keep a detail of the Deputy Minister’s speech and, to top it off, decontextualize. “In addition, if there was an alert related to alcohol consumption and the coronavirus vaccine, the precaution would not only be for the Russian but for everyone. In other words, the warning, if it exists, should be extrapolated to others. The ideological divide is setting in everywhere, it’s incredible, we have to raise unfounded fears. I am impatiently awaiting the arrival of all the vaccines so that I can vaccinate myself. In general, they have a very high level of efficiency, ”explains Geffner.