Vaccination protects from long COVID
The COVID-19 pandemic had a dramatic effect on the US economy that was mitigated by the rapid development and deployment of COVID vaccines. I was a subject in the Moderna Phase III clinical trial of their RNA vaccine, and eventually have had six injections.
The well-established benefit of COVID vaccination is that it will keep you out of the ED and the morgue. But what about “long COVID,” the post-acute sequelae of COVID infection that can last for weeks, months or years? Well, my wife (also vaccinated) and I did contract COVID in November 2023, but aside from mild symptoms, we had no long-term consequences. But we’re anecdotes, not data. A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine brings the data:
“In a decomposition analysis, Al-Aly* and colleagues found that about 72% (95% CI 69.50-74.43) of the decrease in the cumulative risk of long COVID between the Omicron era and earlier eras could be attributed to vaccines and about 28% (95% CI 25.57-30.50) could be attributed to era-related effects, such as changes in virus pathogenicity. “These findings suggest that vaccine uptake will be key to maintaining the lower cumulative incidence of PASC [post-acute sequelae of COVID-19] relative to earlier phases of the pandemic,” Al-Aly and colleagues wrote.”
So get the jab, folks. It could not only save your life, but it will protect you from long COVID.
COVID vaccine protects from long COVID
The well-established benefit of COVID vaccination is that it will keep you out of the ED and the morgue. But what about “long COVID,” the post-acute sequelae of COVID infection that can last for weeks, months or years? Well, my wife (also vaccinated) and I did contract COVID in November 2023, but aside from mild symptoms, we had no long-term consequences. But we’re anecdotes, not data. A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine brings the data:
“In a decomposition analysis, Al-Aly* and colleagues found that about 72% (95% CI 69.50-74.43) of the decrease in the cumulative risk of long COVID between the Omicron era and earlier eras could be attributed to vaccines and about 28% (95% CI 25.57-30.50) could be attributed to era-related effects, such as changes in virus pathogenicity. “These findings suggest that vaccine uptake will be key to maintaining the lower cumulative incidence of PASC [post-acute sequelae of COVID-19] relative to earlier phases of the pandemic,” Al-Aly and colleagues wrote.”
So get the jab, folks. It could not only save your life, but it will protect you from long COVID.
COVID vaccine protects from long COVID