Tag: long COVID

Recognizing LONG COVID

By Kirby Sokolow
From PHN Issue 53, Summer 2023

Three years have passed since the World Health Organization first declared COVID-19 a pandemic. However, people worldwide continue to suffer from this novel coronavirus’ devastating effects. Among them are an estimated 65 million people with symptoms of Long COVID.

Long COVID—also called post-COVID syndrome or post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection—is when someone keeps having COVID-19 symptoms or gets new symptoms that last weeks, months, or years after they get COVID. Anyone infected with COVID-19 can develop Long COVID, even vaccinated folks and people whose initial symptoms were mild. However, vaccination does lower your risk of both getting COVID and developing long COVID.

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COVID-19 Updates: Delta Variant and Vaccinations

By Lily H-A

From PHN Issue 47, Fall 2021

A newer variant of the COVID-19 virus called the delta variant, which is more than twice as contagious as earlier variants of the virus, is now the most common coronavirus variant in the US. Earlier in the summer, US cases had dropped to some of their lowest levels since the beginning of the pandemic, but now the delta variant is driving new surges. In the US, Southern states are currently most affected. Hospitals in some heavy-hit areas have reached their capacity. Many states, after rolling back COVID-19 restrictions earlier in the summer, are putting some restrictions back in place. There have also been new lockdowns in some jails and prisons after outbreaks.

Based on data coming out so far, it seems like the currently available vaccines are still very good at preventing serious illness, hospitalizations and deaths from the delta variant. The large majority of hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 are people who were not vaccinated, and spread of COVID-19 seems to be worse in communities with low vaccination rates. But, vaccines do seem to offer less protection from people getting milder cases of COVID-19 with the delta variant, and spreading it to others, than with earlier variants.

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