Long COVID': Is it real and should you worry about it?

Fortune magazine calls it a “mysterious illness”. Rolling Stone calls it a “never-ending battle”. Some say it doesn’t even exist, that it’s just vaccine injuries rebranded. 

Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has trouble defining “long COVID” beyond being “long-term effects” from COVID-19 infection. 

“Post-COVID conditions can include a wide range of ongoing health problems; these conditions can last weeks, months, or years,” says the CDC's website.  

The CDC also appears confused as to who is more at risk for long COVID, first pointing at the unvaccinated with carefully chosen language. 

“People who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 and become infected may also be at higher risk of developing post-COVID conditions compared to people who were vaccinated and had breakthrough infections,” says the agency (emphasis added). 

But the CDC admits to really being in the dark as to who is at risk for long COVID and why. 

“CDC and partners are working to understand more about who experiences post-COVID conditions and why, including whether groups disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 are at higher risk.” 

According to America’s Frontline Doctors Associate Medical Director Dr. Daniel Stock, long COVID does exist – but it’s nothing new.  

"Any source of prolonged heavy inflammation can cause long COVID, which appears in my experience to be another presentation of Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS),” says Dr. Stock.  

The physician explained that both the vaccinated and the unvaccinated can contract long COVID/CIRS. The main risk factor is a weakened immune system, which places the vaccinated squarely in the high-risk category for the illness. 

“There are lots of unvaccinated who got COVID and develop long COVID, which happens if you get COVID and your immune system REALLY stinks,” said Dr. Stock. “COVID vaccines cause severe, prolonged inflammation and can be a direct cause of long COVID/CIRS. They also make your immune system really stink, which means if you get COVID after vaccination, you’re more likely to get long COVID/CIRS than had you gotten COVID without vaccination.” 

“So it is fair to say that overall, the vaccine likely increases your risk of long COVID/CIRS over just getting infected. We can’t indicate that all or most long COVID/CIRS is from the vaccine, but we can indicate that the vaccine increases the likelihood of long COVID/CIRS compared to just getting infected.”