A survey of 345 people, mostly women and mostly in the UK, found that two weeks or more after the second dose of the vaccine, 93 felt a little better and 18 returned to normal – a total of 32 percent reporting long Covid symptoms improved.
In that survey, done by Gez Medinger, a London filmmaker who experienced post-Covid symptoms, 61 people, just under 18%, felt worse, most reporting only a slight decline in their condition. Almost half – 172 people – reported not feeling different.
Another survey by Survivor Corps, a group of more than 150,000 Covid survivors, found that on March 17, 225 of the 577 respondents reported some improvement, while 270 felt no change and 82 got worse.
Jim Golen, 55, of Saginaw, Minnesota, feels that some of Covid’s long symptoms have worsened since his vaccination. Mr. Golen, a former hospice nurse who also owns a small farm, experienced months of difficulty, including blood clots in his lungs, chest pain, brain fog, insomnia and shortness of breath with any effort. At the end of last year, after consulting with several doctors, “it was finally starting to get better,” he said.
Since receiving the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine in mid-January, he said, his chest burn and shortness of breath have returned with full force, especially if he is overloaded with activities like collecting sap from the edges of his farm. However, Golen said he was “very happy” about the vaccination, emphasizing that Covid’s effects were worse and preventing it is crucial.