COVID LONG HAULERS
Most Patients With Covid Have Persistent Symptoms Six Months Later
That’s why getting a vaccine is so important
“I’ll take my chance with the virus.”
I have heard that phrase more than I care to admit. There is still so much hesitancy on the part of so many people in getting vaccinated for Covid-19. True, it is not widely available to the general public, but even among healthcare professionals, there is a significant amount of vaccine hesitancy.
This is concerning. If we are ever to achieve coveted herd immunity, then a substantial proportion of our population needs to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Waiting for 70–80% of the population to get Covid and recover is a prescription for mass slaughter. That is not the answer. Mass vaccination is.
Speaking of getting Covid and recovering, new research has come out in the Lancet, detailing long-term symptoms in over 1,700 patients in Wuhan, China who got Covid-19 and recovered. The picture is far from pretty.
76 percent of all patients had at least one symptom six months out:
- 63% reported fatigue/muscle weakness
- 26% reported difficulty sleeping
- 22% reported hair loss
- 11% had difficulty with smell
- 9% had difficulty with taste
- 7% had trouble with mobility
- 23% reported depression or anxiety
Now, indeed, some of these patients were quite ill with Covid-19, and the researchers did parse out those who were more ill and compared them to those who were less ill. And some of these long-term effects may be due post-ICU syndrome and not necessarily Covid itself. Still, more than three-fourths of patients who got Covid had one chronic symptom six months after recovering.
That is a lot, and it speaks to the unwise decision to try and “wing it” with Covid-19 and not get vaccinated or neglect to wear a mask and social distance. These data clearly show that you really don’t want to get Covid if you can help it. I know people who got Covid and still can't smell more than 2 months later. It is very, very distressing.
These data also further emphasize the clear importance of getting vaccinated when your turn comes up. The vaccine is safe, and it has been shown to be very effective in preventing illness with Covid-19. If we are ever going to get over this pandemic, we need to get the vast majority of our people vaccinated. That includes you, healthcare professionals!
