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#longCIVUD

Mark Ungrin

@mark-ungrin.bsky.social

Unlikely. Repeated infection with SARS-CoV-2 is widespread, with long term impacts across systems including interference with the immune system, while at least some #longCIVUD may reflect viral persistence. And public health leaders gambling from ignorance do not have a good track record.

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Mark Ungrin @mark-ungrin.bsky.social · Nov 25

From populists on the right, but also from establishment figures desperate to bury their responsibility, there's an ongoing push to bury the harms of COVID.

Long COVID alone costs 7M life-years (QALYs) and on the order of a trillion dollars a year in the OECD.
www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issue...

1. While a precise estimate of long COVID prevalence is still emerging, current research suggests that up to 10-30% of people who contracted COVID-19 exhibit symptoms corresponding to long COVID in the weeks and months following acute infection. Across OECD countries at a minimum, this would represent upwards of 39 million people who had or are currently living with long COVID. Sustainable investment in long COVID research is crucial to inform health and social care resource allocation. As the evidence base grows, developing standardised measures of symptoms and functional impact to support a more precise definition that enables the disaggregation of levels of long COVID severity could be useful to better understand the condition, assess its impact, and to tailor care and support.
3. Long COVID can severely limit people’s ability to undertake basic activities of daily life and can dramatically hamper quality of life. More than 7 million quality-adjusted life years may be lost annually across OECD countries due to the condition. Studies from across a range of OECD countries suggest that one sixth to more than one-third of people may have persistent cognitive symptoms, often lasting more than 12 weeks, after a COVID-19 infection.
4. Even conservative estimates of long COVID prevalence would indicate that long COVID may be reducing the workforce by nearly 3 million workers across OECD countries, amounting to an economic cost of at least $141 billion USD from lost wages alone. Moreover, even among those who were able to return to the labour force, a significant proportion reported needing to reduce the number of hours they worked, compared to before their infection.

5. The economic and social welfare costs of long COVID are dramatic: Even excluding the direct costs of health care, long COVID is likely costing OECD countries as much as $864 billion $1.04 trillion USD per year due to reductions in quality of life and labour force participation. The limitations in activities experienced by long COVID patients, including dropping out or reducing their participation in the labour force, as well as direct medical care costs, can have dramatic implications on their financial well-being. Costs to health and social protection systems may also be high over time.
6. Long COVID could further exacerbate inequalities: The COVID-19 pandemic brought attention to longstanding socioeconomic and demographic inequalities in health. Evidence from some countries suggests that certain groups – including populations with lower education attainment, and those living in more deprived areas – may be at risk of developing long COVID, and of experiencing more severe symptoms.
7. Patients have played a critical role in bringing attention and action to long COVID: Throughout the pandemic, countries deprioritized many key aspects of person-centred care in exchange for rapidly implementing policies intended to contain the virus. While the need for rapid action was clear, the lack of patient voice in the process was notable. In contrast, patients and patient groups have been at the forefront of advocating for both a recognition of long COVID as a legitimate condition, in articulating their care and support needs, and in spearheading research into the condition. In many cases, countries have responded by actively working together with patient groups to disseminate information and develop patient-centred support services.

October 27, 2025 at 5:16 AM Everybody can reply

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