Successive Doses of COVID Vaccine Further Reduce The Risk
Getting at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine before your first bout of infection can significantly cut the risk of developing long COVID, according to a new study. Furthermore, the researchers noted that the vaccine effectiveness against long COVID greatly improved with each successive dose, especially when taken before contracting the viral infection.
For example, the first dose of COVID vaccine was found to reduce the risk of long COVID by 22%. However, a second dose reduced the risk by 59%. Staying up to date with three or more doses of COVID vaccines reduced the odds of long COVID by 73%.
Researchers from Sweden, who published findings Wednesday on The BMJ, analyzed data from over half a million Swedes aged 18 and over, who registered their first COVID infection between December 2020 and February 2022. Of the 299,692 vaccinated individuals from the study, around 1,201 were diagnosed with long COVID during the follow-up period, compared with 4,118 long COVID cases among the 290,003 unvaccinated participants.
The BMJ is a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal, published by BMJ Group, which in turn is wholly-owned by the British Medical Association. The BMJ has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world’s oldest general medical journals. Wikipedia
