Long Covid, two vaccine doses reduce risk: study

The vaccine could reduce the risk of Long covid, according to data collected in Great Britain by the Office for National Statistics. The study, involving more than 6,000 adults, found that people vaccinated with 2 doses were 41% less likely to develop covid symptoms 12 weeks after the first positive swab. 9.5% of those who received the double dose in the study developed Long covid, exhibiting symptoms that lasted for over 4 weeks.

The share rose to 14.6% among the unvaccinated. Professor David Strain, of the University of Exeter medical school, judged the data to be consistent with the results of another study, which associates the low level of certain antibodies with the risk of developing Long covid. “We know that vaccines activate the immune response. If you deal with the infection with a higher level” of antibodies, you are “less likely” to develop Long covid.

The study, according to the Guardian, may however have been partially conditioned by the timing. The analyzes on the subjects vaccinated twice were carried out later than the tests on the unvaccinated subjects: some factors, such as the presence of one variant and not another, could therefore have influenced the overall picture of the research.