Asking the Russians not to get pissed

[Old Greg]

Easy. They can just reverse this 2011 order that reclassified beverages with <10% alcohol from foodstuffs to alcoholic drinks.

Russia classifies beer as alcoholic - BBC News

[AtW]

That explains why they did not run phase 3 of trials - not possible to find 30k locals who won’t be drinking for couple of months

[NotAllThere]

Many Russians will spend the first 10 days of 2021 relaxing utterly pished at home or abroad, a period associated with higher alcohol use.

FTFY

[Mordac]

This vaccine program will work well.

It's called 'getting your excuses in early' - when the vaccine is shown not to work, they will say it would have done if you'd stayed off the vodka. Should cover most bases...

[clearedforlanding]

This vaccine program will work well.

Anna Popova, head of the consumer health watchdog, told the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station on Tuesday that people should stop drinking alcohol at least two weeks before getting the first of two injections. They should continue to abstain for a further 42 days, she advised.

Sputnik V, licensed under an accelerated process before the end of clinical trials, has been given to doctors, soldiers, teachers and social workers in the first instance with a large-scale nationwide roll out due to begin this week. There are 21 days between the two Russian vaccine jabs.

“This really bothers me,” said Elena Kriven, a Moscow resident. “I’m unlikely to not be able to drink for 80 days and I reckon the stress on the body of giving up alcohol, especially during what is a festive period, would be worse than the [side effects of the] vaccine and its alleged benefits,” she said.

Kriven was referring to the main New Year public holiday. Many Russians will spend the first 10 days of 2021 relaxing at home or abroad, a period associated with higher alcohol use.