The Department of Health advises the public to refrain from excessive drinking because liquor could lessen the effectiveness of upcoming COVID-19 vaccines.
This was stated by Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, Friday after a Russian health official warned not to drink alcohol two weeks before being injected with the Sputnik V vaccine and 42 days after receiving it.
“These are just precautionary measures. We all know that when you drink alcohol, especially when you drink it too much, bumababa po ang immunity natin,” Vergeire told reporters.
“And when you receive a vaccine, para mag-work maigi sa inyo ang bakuna, kailangan robust ang system mo.”
He said that the body needs to be as strong as possible to produce good antibodies against the disease using a vaccine.
“I think this is not something bad, and I think people should heed this call, para lang po mas magkaroon ng mas magandang epekto ang ating bakuna. Iwasan lang po natin ‘yung mga nakakasama sa ating katawan,” Vergeire added.
In August, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that their country had developed the “first” vaccine against the virus that has already killed millions of people around the world.
DOH: Drinking may lessen effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine
Last month, its manufacturer said the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine is 95 percent effective based on its second interim analysis of clinical trial data.
The vaccine would be administered in two doses and sold on international markets for less than $10 (around P500) but would be free for Russian citizens.
Sputnik V could be stored between two and eight degrees Celsius (between 35.6 and 46.4 degrees Fahrenheit), the developers said, instead of the temperatures below freezing required for some other COVID-19 vaccines.
According to Russia’s health ministry, the state-run Gamaleya research center, and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), the vaccine’s effectiveness was based on preliminary data obtained 42 days after the first dose.
They said that Sputnik V had shown 91.4 percent effectiveness 28 days after the first dose, a figure based on 39 cases.
Last week, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said Sinovac from China and Sputnik V of Russia would be conducting clinical trials in the Philippines by this month or January next year.