Research provides clues about long COVID-19

Vaccination against COVID-19 appears to lower the risk of long COVID, according to a growing body of research. A recent analysis by Israeli epidemiologists of evidence from the United Kingdom found vaccinated people generally had lower rates of long COVID compared to unvaccinated people. A separate study using Italian data found a stronger association of long COVID symptoms in early 2021 when the Alpha variant of the virus was circulating than in 2020, when the original SARS-CoV-2 virus was circulating. The National Institutes of Health is conducting a $1.2 billion study of long COVID, but critics say it is moving at a “glacial pace.” (NPR article, 3/24/22)