COVID-19 vaccines can lower the risk of death by 34% and long COVID by 15% compared to the unvaccinated with SARS-CoV-2 infections, a new study has found.
The researchers also observed that vaccines have been remarkably effective in fending off some of the worst long COVID symptoms, including lung and blood-clotting disorders.
However, the researchers also found that mild breakthrough COVID-19 infections can trigger lingering, severe symptoms of long COVID even in vaccinated people.Experts say these findings highlight the need for new vaccines and ongoing safety protocols beyond immunizations to help prevent long COVID.
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Long COVID can cause persistent COVID-19 symptoms including loss of smell, fatigue, mood changes, and brain fog in addition to disorders of the heart, kidneys, and lungs. These symptoms emerge or continue at least one month after a SARS-CoV-2 infection.
It is estimated that 7.7 to 23 million Americans may have developed long COVID, a condition also called post-acute COVID or chronic COVID.
A study at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System suggests that vaccination alone may not be enough to stop breakthrough COVID-19 infectionsTrusted Source and prevent long COVID.Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University and lead author of the study, said:
“Vaccinations remain critically important in the fight against COVID-19 […] But vaccines seem to only provide modest protection against long COVID.”The findings appear in Nature MedicineTrusted Source.
Filling the knowledge gap
Al-Aly and his co-authors set out to confirm whether breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection (BTI) can also lead to long COVID complications among vaccinated people between one to six months after infection.
They studied data on almost 34,000 people with BTI, based on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ national healthcare records. The data spanned from January to October 2021.
An individual was considered to have a BTI by having tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 at 14 days after having received one dose of the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine or two doses of the Pfizer BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.
