Long Covid symptoms ease after vaccine, say sufferers

Researchers hope to work out what causes condition after several patients claim effects of virus disappeared

LONG Covid sufferers report having their symptoms significantly alleviated after one dose of the vaccine, according to scientists studying the condition.

Around one in 10 people who tests positive for Covid-19 ends up with ongoing symptoms for up to 12 weeks, with a smaller number facing problems for much longer.

But now there are anecdotal reports that between 20 and 50 per cent of sufferers may find that their symptoms – which include fatigue, headaches and brain fog – ease after vaccination.

The trend offers hope for long Covid patients more generally, as it may provide clues into what causes their symptoms and how to treat them. The improvements observed fit with some of the working hypotheses about why people get long Covid.

One theory is that patients have a “reservoir” of persistent virus in their bodies and the antibodies generated by the vaccine help them clear it.

Another explanation is that the boost the immune system gets from the vaccine can help “reset” it.

Dr David Strain, of the University of Exeter, who runs long Covid clinics and is a member of the NHS task force on the condition, said: “We are getting people reporting improvements, and it’s quite widespread, about half of the people we are asking. There is a major reporting bias, though – the people who notice something remarkable are the ones shouting about it.”

Lou Barnes, who co-ordinates the Post Covid Syndrome support group, estimates around 20 per cent have reported improvement after the jab.

But many said that improvements were temporary, lasting for around three weeks, and others had reported feeling worse for a short time, too.

Dr Strain said research was being set up to look into the reports of the effect more systematically.

Prof Danny Altmann, an immunologist at Imperial College, London, said he was also in the process of setting up research, in part because it could also help tackle the vaccine hesitancy some long Covid patients express.

“Many sufferers are very anxious about their immune status. This has led to some paradoxical vaccine hesitancy,” he said.

Prof Eleanor Riley, immunologist at the University of Edinburgh, said: “One of the hypotheses about chronic fatigue syndrome is that it is a failure of the immune system to reset after a viral infection. And if that’s the case, then giving the immune system a jolt, for example by vaccination, may help to reset. But that is purely speculation.”

She cautioned against taking too much from the reports so far, especially as the long Covid definition covers both those who had mild illnesses and persistent symptoms, and those admitted to hospital with the condition who have long-term organ damage.