A new massive survey of more than 800 people suggests that the COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and others can lessen the impact of long COVID-19 symptoms.
What is long COVID-19?
- Long COVID-19 refers to a scenario where people suffer long-haul symptoms that can include fatigue, headaches, hoarse voice, muscle pain, difficulty breathing, brain fog and more, as I’ve written about for the Deseret News.
Does the COVID-19 vaccine stop long COVID-19?
A new survey, which has not been peer reviewed, found that COVID-19 vaccines tend to end most long COVID-19 symptoms.
- The survey was done by the advocacy group LongCovidSOS.
The analysis surveyed about 812 people with long COVID-19 symptoms — which refers to a list of symptoms that people feel for months after being infected with COVID-19 — from the United Kingdom and across the world, The Guardian reports,
- The participants in the study were asked to wait one week after their first COVID-19 dose to make sure their responses weren’t based on the side effects of the vaccine, according to The Guardian.
What did the long COVID-19 study find?
In total, the study found 56.7% of people experienced improvement in symptoms. Meanwhile, 24.6% said their symptoms went unchanged and 18.7% said there was “a deterioration in their symptoms,” per The Guardian.
Long COVID-19 and the COVID-19 vaccine
We’ve heard reports that the COVID-19 vaccine has helped COVID-19 survivors deal with their long COVID-19 symptoms. The New York Times reported that survivors who had long COVID-19 symptoms said they felt better after they got the COVID-19 vaccine.
- “It’s a phenomenon that doctors and scientists are watching closely, but as with much about the yearlong coronavirus pandemic, there are many uncertainties,” according to The New York Times.