Do Vaccines Also Protect Against Long-Term COVID?
The most important thing COVID vaccines do is prevent death and serious illness from COVID-19. The next most important thing they do is prevent many cases of milder illnesses – a job in which they are not perfect, but it is still much better to get vaccinated than not. But what about long-term COVID, the still mysterious long-term symptoms that can follow some coronavirus infections?
COVID is still unexplored
One of the reasons it is difficult to get a definitive answer to this question is that the long-term duration of COVID is difficult to determine and difficult to study. Symptoms of long COVID coincide with the symptoms of other diseases, including some , which used to be called chronic fatigue syndrome . It is difficult to study what you cannot define.
Chronic fatigue, now more commonly known as myalgic encephalomyelitis, is believed to be caused by viral infections, at least occasionally. And if you have the condition or know someone who is sick, you will be familiar with the frustrations that come from healthcare providers not knowing how to diagnose it and what treatments might work best. And this, in turn, is partly due to the difficulties of studying it. It’s an endless cycle of “more research needed.”
Fortunately, many researchers are serious about protracted COVID, but it will be some time before we have firm answers to any of our questions about it, including how to prevent it.
Preventing COVID Cases Prevents Long-Lasting COVID Cases
Logically, you will not be able to get infected with COVID for a long time if you do not have COVID. All COVID vaccines have been approved because they are effective in preventing serious COVID infections, so if you were vaccinated, you automatically lowered your chances of getting COVID for a long time, lowering your chances of getting COVID at all.
The CDC agrees with this logic, stating on its long-term COVID page that “the best way to prevent post-COVID conditions [their name for long-term COVID] is to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as possible.”
The vaccine is likely to reduce the likelihood that COVID turn into a long COVID
Another area of current research is what happens when people contract COVID despite being vaccinated. These cases, called breakout cases, are relatively rare, but they are not uncommon.
Breakthrough cases seem to be milder than those in unvaccinated people. Vaccinated people infected with COVID are less likely to have serious illness, spend time in the hospital, or die from infection. A recent study by the nonprofit Fair Health found that people with more severe symptoms are more likely to get long-term COVID than people with very mild symptoms.
Another recent study published in The Lancet found that people who were fully vaccinated were less likely to experience long-term symptoms. Specifically:
We found that the likelihood of symptom onset within 28 days or more after exposure after vaccination is approximately halved with two doses of the vaccine. This finding suggests that the risk of long-term COVID is reduced in double-vaccinated individuals when additionally considering the already documented reduction in overall risk of infection.
I would never have believed that the results of one study would tell us everything we need to know, as more recent studies may reveal more information that earlier studies were missing. But so far, the data is pointing in the direction of vaccines that reduce your chances of getting long-term COVID and prevent COVID altogether, and perhaps also reduces the likelihood that regular COVID can progress to a long-haul kind.