Can you eat meat, drink or smoke after getting the jab?

Can you eat meat, drink or smoke after getting the jab?

As the vaccination drive gains popularity, manifold post-vaccine care instructions, scientific and otherwise, are fed to the people.

Published: 22nd March 2021 03:21 AM | Last Updated: 22nd March 2021 

Health workers advising people before taking swab samples at Rajiv Gandhi GH | DEBADATTA MALLICK

By Sushmitha Ramakrishnan

Express News Service

CHENNAI: As the vaccination drive gains popularity, manifold post-vaccine care instructions, scientific and otherwise, are fed to the people. Given that many of these instructions seem extremely common, separating disinformation from official guidelines has become hard.

Rajendran, a 62-year-old farmer who got his first jab of vaccination at a rural Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Chengalpattu, a week ago was advised not to drink after he got his second jab. “I was told the vaccine won’t work if I drink,” he said. Meanwhile, in the heart of Chennai, Kalyan*, a journalist in his thirties was informed by the nurse administering the vaccine that he should not drink, smoke or eat meat for 48 hours. His friend, who was vaccinated at an affluent private hospital, was advised to not drink or “eat any non-vegetarian food,” for a week.

So, which advice is right and what should people follow? First things first, there are no dietary restrictions advised by the government along with the vaccine so far. “There are no tangible scientific studies that have shown that non-vegetarian food makes the vaccine ineffective. So people need not stop eating meat to get the vaccine,” said State Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan. Also, there are no approved scientific studies that quantifies the effect of alcohol or smoking on vaccination either.

However, this does not mean it is advisable to get drunk to celebrate getting the first jab. Here’s why: Vaccinations often cause mild flu-like symptoms including fever, chills, headache and nausea. Alcohol tends to aggravate and worsen these symptoms making the experience unpleasant for those getting vaccinated. “Alcohol also affects the body’s immune system negatively and there is a chance that the immune response to the vaccine may not be as effective if there is excessive alcohol in the system,” said Dr P Kuganantham, senior epidemiologist and a member of the State Special Task Force against Covid-19.

“One may feel less sick if they avoid drinking and smoking a week before and after getting the vaccine,” he recommended. The same is true of tobacco consumption. It tends to affect the immune system and therefore may render the vaccine relatively less effective. While the correlation has not been scientifically studied, it is known that smoking does worsen the risk associated with Covid-19 itself.

Kuganantham said that scientifically, there is few pre- and post-vaccination care some people should take. “People on steroids and blood thinners can stop their medications for two days before and two days after the jab to prevent adverse side-effects. If someone has had an anapholatic shock to a vaccine, they should inform their physician and be more careful,” he said. He added that the most important thing to do post-vaccination is to continue wearing masks, maintaining social distance and avoid touching surfaces.

தந்தையின் இரண்டாவது திருமணத்தை மகள் எதிர்க்கலாம்' - மும்பை உயர் நீதிமன்றம்

தந்தையின் இரண்டாவது திருமணத்தை மகள் எதிர்க்கலாம்' - மும்பை உயர் நீதிமன்றம்

மு.ஐயம்பெருமாள்

புகுந்த வீட்டுக்கு வரும் மனைவியைப் பாதுகாப்பது கணவனின் முழுபொறுப்பு என்று மும்பை உயர் நீதிமன்றம் தெரிவித்துள்ளது.

மும்பையைச் சேர்ந்த சுக்ராம் என்பவர் தன் மனைவியை வரதட்சணை விவகாரத்தில் கொலை செய்துவிட்டார். இது தொடர்பான வழக்கை விசாரித்த கீழ் கோர்ட், குற்றவாளிக்கு 10 ஆண்டுகள் சிறைத்தண்டனை விதித்து உத்தரவிட்டது. இதை எதிர்த்து சுக்ராம் மும்பை உயர் நீதிமன்றத்தில் மேல் முறையீடு செய்தார். இவ்வழக்கு நீதிபதிகள் ஜாதனா ஜாதவ் மற்றும் போர்க்கர் ஆகியோர் அடங்கிய டிவிஷன் பெஞ்ச் முன்பு விசாரணைக்கு வந்தது.

இவ்வழக்கு விசாரணையின்போது கருத்து தெரிவித்த நீதிபதி ஜாதனா ஜாதவ், 'பெண் திருமணமாகி கணவன் வீட்டுக்கு வந்துவிட்டால் அப்பெண்ணின் பாதுகாப்பு மற்றும் நலன் ஆகிய இரண்டுக்கும் கணவனே முழுப்பொறுப்பு ஆவார்.

தன்னைத் திருமணம் செய்துகொள்பவரின் மீது முழு நம்பிக்கை வைத்துதான் தன் பெற்றோர் வீட்டைவிட்டு பெண் கணவன் வீட்டுக்கு வருகிறார். அப்படிப்பட்டவரை பாதுகாப்பது கணவனின் பொறுப்பு.

ஆனால், திருமணமாகிச் செல்லும் வீட்டில் வரதட்சணை மரணங்கள், தற்கொலைகள் போன்றவை நடக்கின்றன. இந்த வழக்கிலும் கணவன் தன் மனைவியை பாதுகாக்க வேண்டியது தனது கடமை என்பதை உணரவில்லை. மனைவியை கொலை செய்திருக்கிறார். மேலும், இதன் மூலம் அவர்களின் குழந்தைக்கும் தாயின் அன்பு கிடைக்காமல் போய்விட்டது.

இக்கொலையை மறைக்கவும், கொலை செய்யப்பட்ட மனைவியின் வீட்டாரை சமாதானம் செய்யவும், மனைவியின் அம்மாவுக்கு ஒன்றரை ஏக்கர் நிலம் கொடுப்பதாகக் கூறி, விசாரணையை திசைதிருப்பப் பார்த்துள்ளார்' என்று கண்டனங்களைத் தெரிவித்துள்ளார். அதோடு, கீழ் கோர்ட் கொடுத்த 10 ஆண்டுகள் சிறைத்தண்டனை தீர்ப்பை உறுதிசெய்து நீதிபதிகள் உத்தரவிட்டனர்.

தந்தையின் இரண்டாவது திருமணத்தை மகள் எதிர்க்க முடியும்!

இந்நிலையில் மும்பை உயர் நீதிமன்றத்தில் மற்றொரு வழக்கு, நீதிபதிகள் தனுகா மற்றும் ஜி.பிஜித் ஆகியோர் அடங்கிய டிவிஷன் பெஞ்ச் முன்பு விசாரணைக்கு வந்தது. 66 வயதாகும் வத்சலா என்ற பெண், தன் தந்தையின் இரண்டாவது திருமணத்தை எதிர்த்து மனு செய்ய தனக்கு உரிமை இல்லை என்று குடும்ப நீதிமன்றம் தெரிவித்த உத்தரவை எதிர்த்து தாக்கல் செய்திருந்த மனு அது. அம்மனுவில், 'என் தந்தை 2003-ம் ஆண்டு இரண்டாவது திருமணம் செய்துகொண்டார். 2016-ம் ஆண்டு என் தந்தை இறந்துவிட்டார். அவரின் இரண்டாவது மனைவி, தனது முதல் திருமண கணவரை முறைப்படி விவாகரத்து செய்யாமல் என் தந்தையைத் திருமணம் செய்து இருக்கிறார். எனவே, இத்திருமணத்தைச் செல்லாது என்று அறிவிக்க வேண்டும்' என்று கேட்டு இருந்தார்.

இதை விசாரித்த நீதிபதிகள், 'மனுதாரர் தந்தையின் இரண்டாவது மனைவி, முறைப்படி தன் முதல் திருமணத்தை விவாகரத்து மூலம் முறித்துக்கொள்ளாமல் இரண்டாவது திருமணம் செய்துள்ளார். அது குறித்து தெரிய வந்தவுடன் உடனே கோர்ட்டை அணுகி இருக்கிறார் மனுதாரர். இதுபோன்ற சூழ்நிலையில் தந்தை இறந்திருப்பதால், அவரின் மகள் தந்தையின் இரண்டாவது திருமணத்தை எதிர்த்துக் கேள்வி கேட்க உரிமை இருக்கிறது. எனவே, மனுதாரரின் மனுவை புதிதாக பரிசீலிக்கும்படி குடும்ப நல நீதிமன்றத்துக்கு உயர் நீதிமன்றம் உத்தரவிடுகிறது' என்று தீர்ப்பளித்தனர்.

Six booked for forging community certificates in Salem

Six booked for forging community certificates in Salem

The alleged forgery came to light when revenue officials conducted an inquiry following several petitions at the Madras High Court.

Published: 20th March 2021 03:15 PM 

By Express News Service

SALEM: Six persons including a medical college student and a government staffer were booked for allegedly faking ST community certificates on Friday.

The alleged forgery came to light when revenue officials conducted an inquiry following several petitions at the Madras High Court. The pleas were filed separately by R Suseela and S Jayanthi, both residents of Kolathur, seeking ST community certificates for their children claiming that they were part of the Konda Reddi community.

After the court directed the district administration to look into the matter, revenue officials found that the documents were allegedly faked. While Suseela’s community certificate did not match government records, Jayanthi had allegedly produced a fake ST certificate to secure a medical seat for her daughter. Meanwhile, V Saranya, a resident of Thokkanampatti, allegedly created a fake ST certificate to secure a government job. Based on complaints from VAOs, the Salem rural police filed cases against the women and their family members.

Meanwhile, members of the community claim that they were wrongfully denied community certificates by revenue officials as they were mistaken for the Reddiar community, who belong to the BC category. Speaking to Express, Sanjeev of Kolathur Block Konda Reddis Welfare Association said that the community members had been denied ST certificates since 1989. "Tahsildars issued the certificates until 1989, after which the power was transferred to RDOs. Since then, revenue officials who come for field inspection, mistake us for the Reddi community,” he said, adding that Kondi Reddi people live in Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and Tirunelveli districts. Around 100 people from the community have also planned to contest in the Mettur Assembly constituency to highlight the issue, out of which 38 have filed their nominations so far.

As the certificates were denied to the community, the members had to approach the Madras HC. "Since 1989, ST community certificates have been issued to only 42 persons after approaching court,” he said. In 2019, although the court had ordered the issue of community certificates for 38 people, the revenue department has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against that High Court order, he added. “The certificates were not faked. They were issued by revenue officials only."

Daughter Has Every Locus To Question Validity Of Father's Second Marriage: Bombay High Court

Daughter Has Every Locus To Question Validity Of Father's Second Marriage: Bombay High Court: On Wednesday, the Bombay High Court authoritatively ruled that a daughter could present a petition challenging the validity of her parent(s)' second marriage. A Division Bench of Justices VG...

‘Can’t donate blood for two months after first vax shot’

‘Can’t donate blood for two months after first vax shot’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai  20.03.2021 

Those who take the Covid-19 vaccine cannot donate blood for nearly two months. The National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) has recently released guidelines stating that one cannot donate blood from the day of taking the first dose of the vaccine till 28 days after the second dose.

Since there is a minimum gap of 28 days between the two doses, the period one cannot donate blood stretches up to a minimum of 57 days. The NBTC issued a notification on March 5 stating, “28 days post vaccination deferral after the last dose of Covid-19 vaccination, irrespective of the type of vaccine received”.

Dr Sunil Gupta, director of NBTC, told TOI a technical research group has taken the decision based on existing recommendations concerning blood donation and vaccination. “The group has studied the donation gap that exists after one is vaccinated with an inactivated as well as live attenuated virus and thought 28 days was a safe window,” he said. He added while none of the vaccines currently given in the country are live, the 28-day gap was decided since there have been reports of fever, body pain, among other post vaccination after-effects.

Covaxin is an inactivated vaccine that contains the killed coronavirus virus, while Covishield is a recombinant vaccine that has a small piece of the virus’s DNA.

A senior blood transfusion expert questioned the deferral period saying if none were live vaccines why stop people from donating blood. “In the US, there is a deferral time of 2 weeks only for those vaccinated with a live attenuated virus and not an inactivated one such as Covaxin,” he said. Dr Gupta said the deferral period may be reviewed as and when more evidence emerges.

The sparrow can still fly home to us

TIMES EVOKE

The sparrow can still fly home to us

20.03.2021 

March 20th is World Sparrow Day. But, as the little bird vanishes alarmingly across the world, Diwakar Sharma of WWF India writes in Times Evoke about why the sparrow is becoming so rare — and how we can still save it:

Born in Delhi, I remember a time when house sparrows were a part of every childhood. During March and April, their chirping sounds would fill our homes as they fed on wheat grains being cleaned in courtyards or hopped cheerfully across windowsills. March-April being breeding season for these sparrows, it was common to see them building their little nests in our homes — indeed, it was a thrill to carefully place a toppled-over chick back in its nest, despite dire warnings by our parents that the grown sparrows wouldn’t accept chicks which had been touched by human hands (they usually did; the warnings aimed to stop fascinated children from disturbing these nests).

Then too, in the 1970s and ’80s, Delhi was expanding but there were still patches of natural grasslands that provided a habitat for these birds. Twenty years later, I found sparrows were visible in the city but in much smaller numbers. I was lucky enough to see sparrows nesting in my house windows in the early 2000s. But this lasted only two years and the sparrows didn’t return thereafter.

It is tragic that a species so strongly associated with human habitation, which partly evolved with us and can live in urban or rural settings, is now suffering because of human activities. The house sparrow became associated with humans 10,000 years ago, often following us as we moved to new locales. A ubiquitous companion, the sparrow wasn’t always welcome.

In China, in the 1950s, sparrows were declared pests due to their feeding on crops and were destroyed in huge numbers. Later, it was discovered that sparrows had been controlling the insects that then damaged the crops and caused widespread famines.

But sparrow populations have been consistently declining in different parts of the world. In London, sparrows have almost disappeared, their absence linked with industrialisation growing from the mid-19th century. As locomotives replaced horse carts, the little sparrow lost its share of the grain which spilled from these carts when the horses fed. Research now shows a 55% decline in sparrow populations in Europe, 58% in rural Britain and 95% in London. In India, the ‘eBird’ survey shows house sparrow populations have declined by 45% across six metros. Natural causes like predation and avian malaria have contributed — but human-induced factors have had far greater impact. These include radiation from mobile phones and towers, a shortage of nesting sites caused by changing urban building design and a dwindling supply of insects due to the loss of grasslands, monoculture cropping and the heavy use of pesticides. A recent study indicates that the emission of toxic compounds like methyl nitrite from unleaded petrol could also have affected sparrow populations.

In many countries, this little bird, facing multiple existential challenges, has been categorised as threatened. As part of global efforts to save it, World Sparrow Day was announced on 20th March and in 2012, the house sparrow was declared Delhi’s state bird. But we need more than nominations and labels to bring sparrows back. A lot is still possible — we can provide safe nesting places for sparrows by placing artificial nest boxes around homes. We can also improve our knowledge of the habitat these birds need. Currently, due to a belief that only woodlands fight climate change, afforestation drives eat away grassy stretches. But the house sparrow doesn’t inhabit woodlands, which consist of dense trees. It is a creature of grasslands, large swathes of grasses and shrubs. Afforestation therefore must only be undertaken in areas that had forests to begin with. In other locations, grassland management should be adopted to preserve the natural ecosystem.

Any change in the health of an ecosystem reflects in changes in its biodiversity — the decline of the sparrow indicates that the health of Delhi’s environment is deteriorating. This is a warning bell for Covid-19 has shown that environmental well-being and human health are intricately linked. We need to do more to protect nature. There is reason to hope too — sparrows have been sighted recently in outer Delhi, across Dwarka and Najafgarh. A possible reason could be a change in the numbers of mobile towers. But sparrows still face challenges like urban construction edging them out. We need to solve these issues with a focus that lasts beyond World Sparrow Day, to every day which can be brightened by the chirping of this energetic little bird.

Times Evoke presents a unique space for readers to express their thoughts on the environment. Write in to: timesevoke@timesgroup.com

40-yr-old jumps into zoo’s lion pit in Kolkata, escapes with minor injuries

40-yr-old jumps into zoo’s lion pit in Kolkata, escapes with minor injuries

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata:20.03.2021 

A 40-year-old man, reportedly mentally unstable, miraculously escaped with his life suffering only minor injuries after he scaled a wall and jumped into a lion enclosure at the Alipore zoo on Friday morning. Gautam Guchait, who reportedly just wanted to “set the big cat free”, had injuries and cuts in his legs when a lion attacked him, before zoo officials managed to lead the animal away.

Guchait, a resident of East Midnapore’s Patashpur, had left home four days ago, said police. “We spoke to him. He said he loved to see wild animals in the wild, and hence wanted to set the lion free,” an officer said.

Alipore zoo director A K Samanta said the lion was sitting at the northernmost corner of the enclosure, when Guchait jumped in, around 11am. “Since the lion was at the northern side, our security guards, too, were there, keeping an eye on the crowd,” he said.

“This person, wearing an orange robe, started climbing the enclosure wall from the other side and stood on top of it. Though our alert guards opened the lion shelter doors soon after spotting the man on top of the wall, he jumped. Once in, he couldn’t stand straight and started crawling towards Viswas, the lion, who attacked him with its paw,” he added.

It was only because of the alert zoo staff that Guchait escaped a worse fate.