Vaccination against the coronavirus, necessary to stop the circulation of the virus, is advancing and with it doubts arise. There are those who wonder if they can exercise before going to get vaccinated if they should be vaccinated when the time comes while pregnant... There are those who have more mundane doubts. So since he has met after getting vaccinated with friends to have a wine, a few beers or even lunch or dinner, he goes further and asks himself: if I get vaccinated against the coronavirus today can I drink later?
The hare jumped when a few months ago Russia banned the consumption of alcohol and the Sputnik vaccine. But what about those of AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and Jannsen? The Spanish Society of Immunology released a document on social networks a few days ago in which it explained that the consumption of distilled alcohol and drugs has an immunosuppressive effect with mechanisms very similar to those produced by stress and depression. The signatories of the document, Alfredo Corell, professor of Immunology at the University of Valladolid, and África González Fernández, professor of Immunology at the University of Vigo, add in it that the intake of wine and beer is not immuno-healthy: "it does not affect negatively to the immune system is not synonymous with health”, since these drinks have very harmful side effects.
Do alcohol and the coronavirus vaccine interfere?
Beyond the doubt as to whether the coronavirus vaccine will cause adverse reactions, whether alcohol consumption will interfere with the injection is beginning to be a question frequent when vaccinated. It must be taken into account that the health recommendation will always be to avoid alcohol and other toxins, such as tobacco.
But in real life we know that many of us drink wine or beer in social gatherings.
Sergiu Padure, professor of Immunology at the CEU San Pablo University, in Madrid, and specialist in immunology at the Gregorio Marañón General University Hospital, explains to CuídatePlus that alcohol in small amounts and in people who do not drink excessively or chronic should not interfere in the creation of antibodies, that is, in the immune response that occurs against SARS-CoV-2. This is because “alcohol is metabolized through the liver and the immune response to the vaccine usually occurs in the peripheral lymphoid organs. It is a matter of metabolism.”
Lorenzo Armenteros, Covid-19 spokesperson for the Spanish Society of General and Family Physicians, agrees with this, who explains that the vaccine is administered intramuscularly, so that it passes directly into the bloodstream to stimulate the immune system, while Alcohol is absorbed in the stomach and eliminated by the liver. “The vaccine is introduced into the bloodstream to stimulate certain cells so that they cause immunity. Alcohol has the same route as a food. Therefore, there would be no common elements that could affect immunity.” They are completely different mechanisms of action.
“When the vaccine is inoculated, the natural immunity process begins. The moderate intake of alcohol has no capacity to reduce the immune response”, adds Armenteros. In addition, the mechanism of action of the vaccine is gradual and it is considered that the immune peak occurs between 7-10 days.
Contraindicated or not, better not to drink
However, even if it seems that there is no contraindication or that it does not interfere, the best thing we can do is not drink a beer or wine either before or after the vaccination. "Alcohol is still a toxic substance and it is best to avoid it from a health point of view," adds Armenteros.
Padure extends this recommendation to 24-48 hours. “The vaccine stimulates an immune response. In fact, many patients have adverse reactions, which can range from local discomfort at the injection site to malaise, fever, low-grade fever… It makes much more sense not to encourage alcohol consumption so as not to enhance these reactions”.
Armenteros recalls that the vaccine does not interfere with normal life and in fact is recommended in patients with cancer or other diseases.
Of course, a person who drinks a large amount of alcohol just before or after being vaccinated could affect the immune system response. "The recommendation of doctors will always be not to consume alcohol -or tobacco- and this advice has nothing to do with the administration of the vaccine," Padure points out.
Chronic alcohol consumption
People who consume alcohol on a chronic basis already have an affectation of their immune response. Therefore, Padure exposes that this immunosuppression produced by alcohol -which makes them more at risk of pneumonia or tuberculosis and other bacterial, viral and fungal diseases- can interfere with the response to the anti-Covid-19 vaccine and not produce a response correct. “This affected response is produced on T and B lymphocytes in peripheral blood, one of the main tools for fighting infections. In order to produce a correct and coherent response, we need peripheral blood T and B lymphocytes to be within normal ranges”
Is alcohol healthy?
Alcohol has not been considered a healthy habit for a long time, unless it is the consumption of a daily glass of wine as part of a Mediterranean diet pattern and only in people over 45 years of age in the case of men and 55 in women with cardiovascular risk. Let's not kid ourselves, no doctor is going to give us the green light to drink happily.