Using vaccine to fight long-haul COVID-19

Q: I had two vaccines and a booster and still got COVID-19. A mild case for sure, but now I have symptoms of long COVID-19 — fatigue, foggy brain, some stomach problems. Will getting another vaccination help at all? — George T., Eugene, Oregon

A: I’m sorry you’re having to deal with long COVID-19 symptoms, but thankfully we know a lot more about what it is, why it persists and what can help ease the symptoms.

The latest insights come from researchers at the National Institutes of Health. They prepublished their findings in something called Research Square — the actual paper is undergoing peer review at Nature Portfolio. Clearly, they felt the info was so important that it should — with that caveat — be shared promptly.

Turns out there are at least two possible reasons long COVID-19 develops. One is that the virus becomes lodged in various tissues and organs throughout the body — where the immune system has trouble hunting it down and killing it off, even though it has killed off the virus circulating in your bloodstream. You test negative, but the virus persists, hidden away. That inflammatory invasion of tissue triggers various symptoms depending where it is lodged. It can end up in the brain, the gut, the lungs, the heart and/or the kidney ... you name it. The researchers found that symptoms can persist for at least 230 days following onset and may last longer (230 days is as far as they tracked it). In short: SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, triggers systemic infection for months.

The other possible cause is an autoimmune reaction. Your immune system has switched from defending you against COVID-19 to causing an over-inflammatory response that attacks formerly healthy tissue.

The good news is that getting another vaccination or booster can KO the lurking virus. It’s reported that 33% of folks with long COVID-19 who get another vaccination are cured of the symptoms within days. So get a booster vaccine ASAP and wear an N95 or KN95 mask.