Researchers are trying to establish whether existing COVID-19 vaccines and treatments can prevent lasting symptoms.
that has not yet been peer reviewed found that vaccination reduced the chances of developing long-COVID symptoms by about 41% in more than 3,000 double-vaccinated participants who were later infected with SARS-CoV-2.
Nevertheless, some studies plan to look at the impact of early treatment with anti-viral drugs on long COVID. A clinical trial called PANORAMIC has been testing the effects of the oral anti-viral molnupiravir, developed by Merck in Kenilworth, New Jersey, and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics in Miami, Florida, on COVID-19 severity.
But, Tikkinen cautions, none of these studies had enough participants to give clear-cut answers on long COVID. His team went to extraordinary measures to contact participants months after their remdesivir treatment and to encourage them to fill out a survey about their symptoms. The team hired graphic designers to make the surveys easier to fill out, had the questions translated into ten languages and offered to hand-deliver the paperwork to participants’ homes.