Scientists are investigating a new condition believed to be caused by Covid vaccination – dubbed ‘Long Vax’.
Experts at Harvard and Yale are studying the debilitating suite of problems that appear hours, days or weeks after getting a shot but can persist for months.
Patients with so-called Long Vax appear to suffer symptoms similar to ‘Long Covid’ — including headaches, intense tiredness, and abnormal heart rate and blood pressure. One possible symptom that may be unique to the vaccine-induced condition, however, is tingling, burning pain and blood circulation issues.
The true number of people affected is not yet known, but Dr Harlan Krumholz, a cardiologist at Yale, is leading a study of around 2,000 people into the issue.
Experts stress the condition is extremely rare, relatively mild compared to severe Covid and that the benefits of vaccination more than likely outweigh the risks – for example, getting vaccinated significantly lowers the risk of Long Covid.
Dr Harlan Krumholz, a cardiologist at Yale University, who is leading a study of around 2,000 people into the issue, admits it is controversial because the Covid vaccines have saved millions of lives. The jabs also lower the risk of long Covid by around a third, according to some studies, making the issue even more contentious
Dr Krumholz admits it is controversial because the Covid vaccines have saved millions of lives. And studies show the jabs also lower the risk of long Covid by around a third, making the issue even more contentious.
For comparison, long Covid is relatively common, with one in eight adults who get infected with the virus suffering symptoms months after clearing the acute illness, according to the CDC.
The huge benefit of Covid vaccination and the toxic anti-vaxx movement has left scientists uncomfortable about speaking up about Long Vax, according to Dr Krumholz, who includes himself in that.
He said he feared any studies into the issue being seized upon by conspiracy theorists. But after observing a rising number of cases of Long Vax, he said: ‘I’m persuaded that there’s something going on [with these side effects].
‘It’s my obligation, if I truly am a scientist, to have an open mind and learn if there’s something that can be done.’
Dr Anne Louise Oaklander, a neurologist and researcher at Harvard Medical School, echoed his comments.
She told Science: ‘You see one or two patients [with possible Long Vax] and you wonder if it’s a coincidence. But by the time you’ve seen 10, 20… Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.’
Long Covid is thought to be caused by persistent pieces of the Covid virus lurking in the body or an overreactive immune system unable to reset itself.
Patients with the condition appear to suffer from symptoms similar to ‘Long Covid’ — including persistent headaches, intense tiredness and abnormal heart rate and blood pressure
In Long Vax, researchers suggest it is being caused by a similar immune overreaction to the Covid spike protein that the vaccine uses to generate antibodies.
One idea is that some people produce a second round of antibodies which then mistakenly attack the healthy cells.
The antibodies might also bind to ACE2, a receptor that aids regulation of blood pressure and heart rate but is also used by Covid to enter the body.
If the antibodies get in the way of ACE2’s signaling, then that could lead to the faster heart rates and fluctuating blood pressure.
The researchers think it is different to Long Covid ‘based on the timing of the onset of symptoms’, Dr Krumholz told DailyMail.com.
He said it is hard to compare the prevalence of Long Vax compared to Long Covid ‘as studies are providing conflicting information’.
Roughly a year ago, Dr Krumholz and Dr Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale, started enrolling vaccinated and unvaccinated patients in a new study called LISTEN, which stands for Listen to Immune, Symptom and Treatment Experiences Now.
The purpose of the study is to ‘understand Long Covid symptoms and corresponding immune responses’.
The study also includes Long Covid patients. It aims to look at participants’ symptoms alongside their immune cell patterns to see how people’s immune systems change after vaccination.
Tom Shimabukuro, of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a government advisory committee in January that Long Vax and other symptoms occurring after vaccination is a ‘challenging outcome to monitor.’
Researchers are increasingly discovering overlaps with other medical conditions.
One is small fiber neuropathy, where nerve damage can cause tingling sensations, burning pain and blood circulation issues.
The second is postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), which is sometimes set off by symptoms of small fiber neuropathy.
It causes muscle weakness, heart rate and blood pressure fluctuations, fatigue and brain fog.
Patients with symptoms after a Covid shot might display aspects of either condition, even if they do not reach the threshold for diagnosis, meaning milder cases could be slipping under the radar.
More than 24 patients have surfaced detailing POTS or small fiber neuropathy after a Covid shot, regardless of the manufacturer.
Symptoms can appear hours, days or weeks after vaccination and are tricky to study.
While researchers on the ground are taking Long Vax more seriously, US and European regulators said they have looked for a connection between Covid shots and small fiber neuropathy or POTS, but have not found anything.
Dr Vinay Prasad, hematologist-oncologist and Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California San Francisco, said on Twitter: ‘I think “Covid vaccine induced Long Covid” should be subject to the same scientific criticism and skepticism as autism caused by MMR shots.
‘Bizarre that this article has no solid data to support this speculation. It’s odd what vaccine side effects it’s OK to speculate about.’
Peter Marks, director of the US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, which oversees vaccines, said: ‘We can’t rule out rare cases. If a provider has somebody in front of them, they may want to take seriously the concept [of] a vaccine side effect.’
But Dr Marks also emphasized that the benefits of vaccines far outweigh any risks.
In March, German Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach said that although they are rare, Long Covid-like symptoms after a shot are a real phenomenon, and promised funding for studies.
Some 13.3 percent of people infected with Covid get Long Covid.
Getting vaccinated reduces your risk of Long Covid by 35 percent, according to an analysis from 2022.
An analysis published in the journal Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology in December 2022 showed people who had a single dose of the Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, or Johnson & Johnson vaccine before testing positive for Covid had a 35 percent lower risk of developing Long Covid compared with unvaccinated people who got Covid.
The Covid vaccines have been studied extensively and are perhaps the most studied vaccines in human history for safety. There are only very rare examples of prolonged side effects.
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