Long COVID risks lowered by vaccination, study finds
Only 22.5% of adults reported receiving the updated vaccine between Sept. 14, 2023, and May 11, 2024. Credit: Jeff Bachner
As COVID cases and hospitalizations continue to increase on Long Island and in the United States, a study published this week found getting vaccinated reduces a person’s chance of developing long COVID.
Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine looked at data from the first years of the pandemic — March 1, 2020, to Jan. 31, 2022. They also found the risk of getting long COVID decreased during that time, due to vaccinations as well as changes in the variants of the virus and better treatments for COVID-19.
But they also warned the risk of long COVID "remained substantial" even among vaccinated people during the omicron variant era.
COVID-19 cases have been rising across Long Island and the United States during a summer wave. Positive test results nationally went up 11% the first week of July, considered to be an undercount since home tests are not recorded. This week, 195 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 on Long Island, almost double the 104 hospitalized in mid-June and the highest number since the end of February.
Experts said they hope studies like this help convince people who are hesitant to get annual COVID-19 vaccinations. Only 22.5% of adults reported receiving the updated vaccine between Sept. 14, 2023, and May 11, 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Researchers, whose work was published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, examined cases with symptoms 30 days to one year after infection. According to the CDC, long COVID symptoms range from fatigue and joint aches to brain fog and breathing problems. In 2022, 6.9% of U.S. adults reported ever experiencing long COVID, according to CDC data released earlier this year. The federal agency defines it as a chronic condition present for at least three months.
"It didn’t surprise me at all," Dr. Sritha Rajupet, director of Stony Brook Medicine’s Post-COVID Clinic, said of the study’s findings that the long COVID risks were higher for those who are unvaccinated. "It’s nice to see that the data actually reflects what we see with our patients."
The study used health records from the Department of Veterans Affairs of 441,583 veterans who had COVID-19 between March 1, 2020, and Jan. 31, 2022. The original strain was present in 2020, followed by the delta variant in 2021 and omicron in 2022.
The study reported that 10.4% of people with a COVID-19 infection during the original strain — when there was no vaccine — developed long COVID. Among unvaccinated people, the rate was 9.5% during the delta era and 7.7% during omicron.
Meanwhile, 5.3% of those who were vaccinated during the delta era and 3.5% during the omicron era developed long COVID, the study said.
"The fact that it decreases over time — they've interpreted that this might be to some extent due to changes in the virus with different variants circulating at different times," said Dr. Martin Backer, associate director of the vaccine center at NYU Langone Hospital Long Island. "But I would postulate that it could also be due to different rates of preexisting immunity in the population ... the combination of previous infection plus vaccines provides the most protection."
Backer also pointed out that COVID-19 cases are being diagnosed earlier with better treatments, supportive care and antivirals.
"But this provides another study with strong evidence that [vaccines] decrease the risk of [long COVID] . . . 1 in 10 going down to almost 1 in 30," Backer said. "That’s a big decrease in risk."
Rajupet said many patients who received the original COVID-19 vaccinations did not receive the boosters or updated shots, even though they are formulated to take on the variants of the virus.
"Anyone can get long COVID but studies have shown there are some groups of people who are more likely to develop long COVID," she said. That includes "women, Hispanic and Latino individuals, people who have experienced a more severe COVID illness, people with underlying health conditions and adults who are 65 years and older, as well as those who did not get a COVID-19 vaccine."
As COVID cases and hospitalizations continue to increase on Long Island and in the United States, a study published this week found getting vaccinated reduces a person’s chance of developing long COVID.
Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine looked at data from the first years of the pandemic — March 1, 2020, to Jan. 31, 2022. They also found the risk of getting long COVID decreased during that time, due to vaccinations as well as changes in the variants of the virus and better treatments for COVID-19.
But they also warned the risk of long COVID "remained substantial" even among vaccinated people during the omicron variant era.
COVID-19 cases have been rising across Long Island and the United States during a summer wave. Positive test results nationally went up 11% the first week of July, considered to be an undercount since home tests are not recorded. This week, 195 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 on Long Island, almost double the 104 hospitalized in mid-June and the highest number since the end of February.
WHAT TO KNOW
- A new study shows that being vaccinated against COVID-19 can reduce your chance of developing long COVID.
- The study showed 9.5% of unvaccinated people developed long COVID during the delta era in 2021 compared with 5.3% of vaccinated people. Those rates dropped during omicron to 7.7% of unvaccinated people and 3.5% of vaccinated people.
- Experts hope studies like this will help convince more people to get the updated COVID-19 vaccine, expected to become available in September.
Experts said they hope studies like this help convince people who are hesitant to get annual COVID-19 vaccinations. Only 22.5% of adults reported receiving the updated vaccine between Sept. 14, 2023, and May 11, 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Researchers, whose work was published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, examined cases with symptoms 30 days to one year after infection. According to the CDC, long COVID symptoms range from fatigue and joint aches to brain fog and breathing problems. In 2022, 6.9% of U.S. adults reported ever experiencing long COVID, according to CDC data released earlier this year. The federal agency defines it as a chronic condition present for at least three months.
"It didn’t surprise me at all," Dr. Sritha Rajupet, director of Stony Brook Medicine’s Post-COVID Clinic, said of the study’s findings that the long COVID risks were higher for those who are unvaccinated. "It’s nice to see that the data actually reflects what we see with our patients."
The study used health records from the Department of Veterans Affairs of 441,583 veterans who had COVID-19 between March 1, 2020, and Jan. 31, 2022. The original strain was present in 2020, followed by the delta variant in 2021 and omicron in 2022.
The study reported that 10.4% of people with a COVID-19 infection during the original strain — when there was no vaccine — developed long COVID. Among unvaccinated people, the rate was 9.5% during the delta era and 7.7% during omicron.
Meanwhile, 5.3% of those who were vaccinated during the delta era and 3.5% during the omicron era developed long COVID, the study said.
"The fact that it decreases over time — they've interpreted that this might be to some extent due to changes in the virus with different variants circulating at different times," said Dr. Martin Backer, associate director of the vaccine center at NYU Langone Hospital Long Island. "But I would postulate that it could also be due to different rates of preexisting immunity in the population ... the combination of previous infection plus vaccines provides the most protection."
Backer also pointed out that COVID-19 cases are being diagnosed earlier with better treatments, supportive care and antivirals.
"But this provides another study with strong evidence that [vaccines] decrease the risk of [long COVID] . . . 1 in 10 going down to almost 1 in 30," Backer said. "That’s a big decrease in risk."
Rajupet said many patients who received the original COVID-19 vaccinations did not receive the boosters or updated shots, even though they are formulated to take on the variants of the virus.
"Anyone can get long COVID but studies have shown there are some groups of people who are more likely to develop long COVID," she said. That includes "women, Hispanic and Latino individuals, people who have experienced a more severe COVID illness, people with underlying health conditions and adults who are 65 years and older, as well as those who did not get a COVID-19 vaccine."
Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.
