PSA: Tito’s Vodka Wants You To Know That Booze As A Hand Sanitizer Won’t Stop The Spread Of Coronavirus

Everything from toilet paper to canned beans to doomsday prepper kits have been flying off the shelves since the coronavirus outbreak has steadily spread across the world and the United States. One of the most in-demand products is hand sanitizer, as there are many reports that it has “sold out everywhere.”

There are even reports of outrageous price-gouging with a two-pack of 2-ounce bottles of Purell going for $400. There has been no shortage of internet articles about home remedies and sanitizers for the coronavirus if you can not secure a bottle of hand sanitizer. One of the rumored items that can be used for a hand sanitizer substitute is vodka. But that is simply not true.

There has been misinformation on the internet that vodka can be used in lieu of hand sanitizer, but it is fake news. Texas spirits company Tito’s Vodka noticed that some of their fans were talking about using their product as hand sanitizer, and they released a valuable public service announcement that vodka will not clean your hands from the COVID-19.

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“Per the CDC, hand sanitizer needs to contain at least 60% alcohol,” the Austin-based vodka company tweeted to several people. “Tito’s Handmade Vodka is 40% alcohol, and therefore does not meet the current recommendation of the CDC. Please see attached for more information.”

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Who are these people who are wasting vodka instead of simply washing your hands with free water and $2 hand soap?

I’m pretty sure that people are saying they are keeping a bottle of Tito’s Vodka on their desk as a coronavirus hand sanitizer when they really just want to have a bottle of vodka at their desk so they can drink it.

So good news to the alcoholics out there, you can keep a bottle of Everclear at your desk and claim that it is a hand sanitizer because it is 190 proof or 95% alcohol.

Then there is this Bulgarian doctor who claims that pounding liquor can prevent the coronavirus, which unfortunately for us all is not true.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “recommends washing hands with soap and water whenever possible because handwashing reduces the amounts of all types of germs and chemicals on hands.”

Scientific studies (Here and Here) have shown that hand-washing is superior for infection control compared to alcohol-based hand sanitizers. But remember, pour your vodka down your throat and not your hands.

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[NYP]