DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – A positive COVID-19 diagnosis has been a reality for nearly 30 million Americans since 2020. For many people, once the quarantine period is over, symptoms of the virus can linger for days, weeks, or even months. These people are called ‘COVID long haulers.’
“We don’t know why they occur, it becomes very difficult to treat them,” said Dr. Roberto Colon, chief medical officer at Miami Valley Hospital.
Now that the vaccine is being administered to people across the world and in the United States, doctors say reports of symptom relief in long haulers after getting vaccinated is growing.
“It’s something being described as a case report. We need to investigate it further and make sure it’s not just a coincidence,” said Colon.
Katie Fair was diagnosed with COVID-19 last year, and experienced symptoms for months after being diagnosed. Fair revisited her doctor multiple times, receiving multiple negative COVID-19 tests and clear chest X-rays, but no symptom relief.
“It was just this cough that would not go away. I would get pretty lightheaded from coughing pretty hard all day,” said Fair. An avid runner, Fair finally was given an inhaler which eventually relieved her lingering symptoms.
“It really did help me, it really dried out the cough. I also had a lot of chest pressure and cloudiness feeling, but haven’t had any issues since,” said Fair.
Fair has since received her first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, and remains optimistic that it could help with any remaining symptoms.
Colon encourages COVID-19 long haulers to not be afraid of getting vaccinated, saying that there’s been no evidence to suggest the vaccine makes long hauler symptoms worse.
