The Washington Post: Do vaccines prevent long covid?

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A comprehensive study conducted in the United States to see if vaccination protects against long-term COVID found that the shots had only a little protective effect: being vaccinated appeared to lessen the chance of lung and blood clot issues but did little to protect against most other symptoms. The study, published in Nature Medicine on Wednesday, is part of a series of research by the Department of Veterans Affairs on the impact of the coronavirus, and it is based on 33,940 patients who had breakthrough infections following vaccination. The findings support studies indicating that vaccination significantly decreases the risk of death or serious illness. However, there was more uncertainty in the case of long COVID. People in the research who were vaccinated had a 15% lower risk of developing long-term COVID six months after their first diagnosis of COVID. The most significant advantage appears to be in lowering blood clotting and pulmonary problems. However, there was no difference in the longer-term risks of neurological difficulties, gastrointestinal complaints, kidney failure, and other ailments between the vaccinated and unvaccinated. The complete article by Ariana Eunjung Cha can be accessed here.

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