During the COVID-19 pandemic, new strains of the coronavirus emerged, impacting the likelihood of developing long COVID. Vaccinated individuals experienced the most significant decrease in long COVID cases over time. A study analyzing data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care System focused on individuals who had contracted COVID from March 2020 to January 2022. The research, conducted by the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System, compared the rates of long COVID across different phases of the pandemic among vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. The introduction of the first COVID vaccine in December 2020 marked a turning point. The delta variant dominated in the summer of 2021, followed by the omicron variant in December 2021. Comparing omicron infections to previous strains revealed that 72% of the reduction in long COVID cases during the omicron phase was attributed to vaccines, with the remaining factors being changes in the virus and advancements in medical care and antiviral treatments. Despite the significant decrease in long COVID cases among vaccinated individuals, the researchers caution that the risk still exists due to ongoing infections, reinfections, and low vaccination rates, potentially leading to a substantial number of individuals experiencing long COVID.
2024-07-17 16:00:00
Originally published on www.sciencenews.org