As transmission remains high, Science Table warns of risk of ‘long COVID’

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By Brigid Goulem, The Kingston Whig-Standard

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With high rates of COVID-19 transmission across the province, the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table says the risk of post-COVID condition (colloquially known as “long COVID”) is particularly high among unvaccinated people.

According to a report issued by the Ontario Science Table on April 14, conservative estimates say that at least 10 per cent of unvaccinated people will develop post-COVID condition. Post-COVID condition usually occurs within three months of a COVID-19 infection “with symptoms lasting for longer than two months with no alternative diagnosis.”

Despite the high rates of reported long-term symptoms, there is not yet an established treatment for the condition.

The symptoms of post-COVID condition range from mild to very serious and can have debilitating impacts on people’s daily lives. The most common symptom reported, according to the Ontario Science Table, is fatigue, followed by headaches and shortness of breath. Post-COVID condition has also been linked to neurological illness, heart attacks, stroke, and even organ damage to the lungs, heart, brain and kidneys.

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As reports of post-COVID condition rise, the Ontario Science Table is warning that such symptoms will have an impact on the economy, health-care system and broader society for many years as these symptoms result in work and family life disruptions for many people.

From our perspective, we are focusing on prevention, and the key measure for preventing these post-COVID complications is getting immunized with all the doses you are eligible for,” Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington medical officer of health Dr. Piotr Oglaza said in a media call on Friday.

Oglaza explained that, at this point, there is very little information about post-COVID condition, making it challenging for public health to address this issue.

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“There is a lot of uncertainty. It’s not a very well-defined syndrome and there’s many different presentations. There’s likely going to be much more research coming up in the near future on this,” he said.

While children as a cohort are found to have less-severe outcomes from COVID-19, the Ontario Science Table said that, currently, there is very little known about post-COVID condition in children.

Locally, children aged five to 11 have the lowest vaccination coverage, with only 54.5 per cent having received two doses of the vaccine.

Oglaza said that while the risks of post-COVID condition in children are unknown, early studies are showing that vaccines are effective at reducing post-COVID risks among children.

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“More research is needed to see what, if any, impacts post-COVID condition may have on this particular population, but we are already seeing some promising data from vaccine studies that some of the post-COVID complications, such as multi-system inflammatory syndrome, is very significantly reduced in children as a result of vaccines,” he said.

Oglaza is strongly encouraging that everyone, and especially children, get vaccinated against COVID-19 to reduce the risks of both post-COVID condition and severe outcomes from COVID-19.

Vaccine appointments and walk-in clinics are available online and by telephone through KFL&A Public Health.