COVID is the ultimate puzzle. Some people never experience symptoms and have no clue they’ve been infected. Others get sick and never seem to get back to their healthy normal.
People in that second category are long haulers. They experience what’s called “long COVID.” This is when they recover from the initial infection but then suffer through months of chronic post-COVID symptoms. Horrible fatigue. Brain fog. Shortness of breath. Chest pain. Gastrointestinal problems.
Health experts predict 10 to 30 percent of cases will transition into long COVID.
Because the disease hasn’t even been with us two years yet, the health community can’t say for certain—yet—how long… “long COVID” might last.
Recently, a new twist has been added to the mystery of long COVID. Some long haulers are reporting feeling better after getting the vaccine.
Is this wishful thinking?
Health experts point out that some COVID effects—like damage to the heart—cannot be reversed by a vaccine. Yet, if long haulers are experiencing a lessening of symptoms after their shot—this could indicate that with some patients the virus never left them. It was circulating in their systems—until the vaccine cleared it out.
As with much to do with this virus, the impact of the vaccine on long COVID will remain a mystery until more study can be devoted to it.
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