Update: COVID-19 Vaccination Does More Than Minimize Risk for Infection and Severe Illness

Patients who opt to receive the full complement of COVID-19 vaccine not only lower their risk for infection or serious illness if they do wind up getting sick, but also receive extra protection against long COVID, according to the results of a study released by the U.K. Health Security Agency. The report drew data from 15 studies in the United Kingdom and around the world. Seven of those studies looked at whether vaccination against COVID-19 before infection protects patients from long COVID; seven considered the impact of vaccination among subjects who already had long COVID; and one examined both questions. Results of six studies showed that subjects who received one or two doses of vaccine prior to infection were less likely to experience long COVID postinfection. Two studies revealed that fully vaccinated subjects were less likely than unvaccinated people to develop fatigue, headache, arm and leg weakness, and other medium- to long-term COVID symptoms. And three studies that compared long COVID-19 symptoms before and after vaccination noted that most subjects experienced an improvement after vaccination.