Results from a large study suggest that vaccines offer less protection against lingering symptoms than expected
Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 lowers the risk of long COVID after infection by only about 15%, according to a study of more than 13 million people1. That’s the largest cohort that has yet been used to examine how much vaccines protect against the condition, but it is unlikely to end the uncertainty.
Another mystery has been whether long COVID is less likely to occur after a breakthrough infection — one in a person who has been vaccinated.
The authors of the latest study also compared symptoms such as brain fog and fatigue in vaccinated and unvaccinated people for up to six months after they tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The team found no difference in type or severity of symptoms between those who had been vaccinated and those who had not. “Those same fingerprints we see in people who have breakthrough infections,” Al-Aly says.
The limited protection provided by vaccines means that withdrawing measures such as mask mandates and social-distancing restrictions might be putting more people at risk — particularly those with compromised immune systems. “We’re literally solely reliant, now almost exclusively, on the vaccine to protect us and to protect the public,” says Al-Aly. “Now we’re saying it’s only going to protect you 15%. You remain vulnerable, and extraordinarily so.
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