Vaccination and long COVID There could be other reasons for the positive trend that we’ve witnessed, but the timing suggests that vaccination is the most likely explanation.
The decrease in referrals begins in August 2021, around five months after the British population started receiving second doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
There is some evidence already to suggest that immunity gained from vaccination protects against long COVID, though the size of the effect differs between studies.
For example, one study from the US showed a 15% reduction in long COVID symptoms after vaccination, a study from the UK saw a 50% reduction, while one study from Israel found vaccination was associated with no long COVID symptoms at all.