COVID-19 Vaccines May Reduce Long COVID Burden

(Reuters) – COVID-19 vaccines may contribute to a reduction in the health burden of long COVID, new findings suggest.

Researchers analyzed survey responses from 28,356 adults ages 18 to 69 from across the UK who had previously had COVID-19, nearly one-quarter of whom had reported troublesome lingering symptoms.

The likelihood that participants would report long COVID symptoms at least 12 weeks after infection fell by 13% after the first vaccine dose, the researchers reported on medRxiv ahead of peer review.

It was unclear whether this improvement continued between the first and second doses. But a further 9% reduction in the odds of persistent symptoms after the second vaccine dose “did appear to be sustained, at least over the follow-up period of 67 days on average,” said study leader Daniel Ayoubkhani of the UK Office for National Statistics. The same was true for long COVID symptoms severe enough to hamper daily activities, and the pattern was similar regardless of whether participants received vaccines from AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, or Moderna.

“However,” Ayoubkhani noted, “we can’t say from this study if, or how, vaccination caused the observed changes in symptoms, and more follow-up time is needed to assess whether the improvement will be sustained in the longer term and the impact of booster doses and new variants.”

SOURCE: https://bit.ly/33qLQSS medRxiv, online December 9, 2021.

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