Two years after the appearance of the first cases of COVID-19 in the West, the mystery still hangs around the “long-lasting COVID”. Impossible for the moment to know if the vaccines make it possible to prevent the appearance of these symptoms which last for months.
A study from the scientific journal The Lancet lit a ray of hope by arguing that doubly vaccinated individuals had 50% less risk of contracting long-lasting COVID.
This still little-known pathology currently affects a third of patients affected by COVID-19. It is usually characterized by fatigue, loss of smell, difficulty breathing and loss of concentration. Unlike “normal” COVID-19, the patient’s symptoms only resolve after many weeks, if at all.
However, as explained by Dr. Alain Piché, director of the post-COVID outpatient clinic in Sherbrooke, the literature is not unanimous on the real effectiveness of vaccines against this disease.
His own studies conducted between August and November last followed fully vaccinated patients who still contracted the Delta variant. “There doesn’t seem to be any benefit from vaccination,” he says. What’s more, instead of a third, it was more like half of the cases of infections that caused a long form of COVID, he notes.
“Probably the incidence of long COVID varies between variants. But, we don’t have that much evidence, ”he nuances.
Two other studies can be added to this short scientific literature. A US study of 10,000 patients suggests that vaccination has no impact, while another Israeli study suggests the opposite.
If the effects of vaccination are therefore uncertain, the impact of the Omicron variant is even more so. “It remains the great unknown for the moment”, points out the infectious disease specialist.
“If there is one patient in two, or one patient in three, who develops a long COVID with Omicron, that will really make a lot of patients in the health system, extrapolates Dr Piché. Our clinic is already overwhelmed. I dare not imagine if we observe such a high incidence with the Omicron variant. »
This text is taken from our newsletter “Coronavirus mail” of January 24, 2022. To subscribe, click here.