Filenews 4 September 2021
Full vaccination against the coronavirus significantly reduces not only the risk of infection, but also the likelihood of the disease turning into a long Covid-19 with months-long symptoms, according to a new British scientific study.
The study shows that in the minority of those infected with the virus, despite having received both doses of the vaccine, the risk of subsequently developing prolonged symptoms of the so-called "long Covid-19" – for over a month – is halved, that is, by 50%, compared to the likelihood of the unvaccinated to become ill for a long time.
Most people who get sick with Covid-19 have recovered within a maximum of four weeks, but some continue to have one or more symptoms even for many months after the initial infection, which can happen even in patients who have had mild symptoms.
The scientists of the British College of London (King's), led by Dr. Claire Steves, who made the relevant publication in the medical journal "The Lancer Infectious Diseases", according to the BBC, analyzed data collected from the British online application "Zoe Covid Study", which allows patients to record their symptoms and duration on their own, the tests they have done, as well as their vaccinations. Between December 2020-July 2021, the app gathered data on more than 1.2 million people who took one dose and nearly a million for those who took two doses of vaccine.
It was found that only 0.2% reported how they contracted the coronavirus after being fully vaccinated, while nearly 0.5% were infected after a single dose of vaccine they had made. Of those fully vaccinated with Covid-19, 5% experienced a long Covid-19 with a duration of more than one month, compared to a corresponding rate of 11%, i.e. at least double, among the unvaccinated.
People over 60 years of age, especially with underlying problems such as obesity, heart disease, nephropathy, lung disease, etc., as well as those who live in deprived and densely populated areas, especially if they have had a single dose, are more likely to be a "breakthrough" infection (as it is internationally called the infection of a vaccinated person).
"It is good news that, as our research found, double vaccination significantly reduces the risk of contracting the virus, but also that, in case of infection, it prevents the onset of long-term symptoms," Steves said.
The study also shows that the risk of a fully vaccinated person being admitted to the hospital due to coronavirus is reduced by about 70% compared to an unvaccinated person. Even the fully vaccinated who are infected are almost twice as likely (94%), than the unvaccinated, to be asymptomatic.
ANA-MPA
