Can a COVID-19 Vaccine Improve Symptoms for People with Long COVID?

• Some people with lingering COVID symptoms find relief after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
• A new UK study found evidence that after a vaccine people with long COVID-19 may feel better.
• But more research is needed to know if it’s really the vaccine helping.

Many people experience COVID-19 symptoms for weeks or months after their initial infection goes away. Some of these people, known as “COVID long haulers,” had only mild or no symptoms during their initial infection.

Studies suggest that anywhere from 10 percent to 30 percent of people who recover from a coronavirus infection will develop so-called long COVID, with ongoing symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, “brain fog,” sleep disorders, fevers, gastrointestinal symptoms, anxiety, and depression.

Adding a twist to this, Facebook and Twitter are filling up with stories of long haulers who report, to their own surprise, that their long-COVID symptoms improve after getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

An informal survey of 450 people by Survivor Corps, a patient advocacy group for people with long COVID, found that 171 people said their condition improved after vaccination, reports The Washington Post.

While these are mysteries right now, scientists are already working to unravel them.