Fact Check: Do booze and boosters mix?

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WHEC) — The Buffalo Bills aren’t in the Super Bowl, but that won’t keep a lot of you from all those parties. That can mean some beer and cocktails on the menu. At the same time, some of you are due for your COVID-19 booster shots.

There’s a claim going around online that booze and boosters don’t mix! News10NBC’s Nikki Rudd is checking the facts.

If it’s been five months since your last shot of Pfizer or Moderna you’re due for that booster, or just two months after your first shot if you got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

We asked Rochester Regional Health’s Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Emil Lesho about the claim that booze and boosters don’t mix.

"It’s not 100% accurate. It’s not necessarily true," Lesho said. "If there’s a choice between not getting your booster because you want to have a cocktail, definitely get the booster."

Lesho said having one or two glasses of wine or a beer is going to be fine.

"But the caveat is, that said, alcohol consumption suppresses your immune system, including to vaccination," Lesho said. "So it can make you more susceptible to get a cold, to get a virus or other kind of stuff."

To be clear, Lesho is not encouraging drinking or heavy alcohol consumption.

We checked Monroe County’s online appointments for boosters. They’re wide open all month.

Tuesday’s booster clinics are at MCC’s downtown campus, Action for a Better Community on Hudson Avenue, and the Mall at Greece Ridge.