Being vaccinated against Covid-19 can substantially reduce the risk of heart failure and blood clots associated with the virus, according to research.
The study published in the journal Heart analysed health records from more than 20 million people across the UK, Spain and Estonia.
It found consistent evidence that Covid vaccinations do protect against serious cardiovascular complications of the disease for up to a year.
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines offered the most protection against Covid-related heart failure and blood clots in the first month after contracting the virus.
While protection from Covid vaccinations did wane over time, those vaccinated remained at lower risk of Covid-related heart failure and blood clots than unvaccinated individuals for up to a year, the researchers found.
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Three to six months after infection, the risk of heart failure in vaccinated people was 39% lower than in unvaccinated people. The risk of blood clots in veins and arteries was down 47% and 28% respectively.
From six to 12 months post-infection, the risks of the same complications were 48%, 50% and 38% lower respectively for vaccinated people
As the research team, led by academics from Oxford University, concluded: “Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 substantially reduced the risk of acute post-Covid-19 thromboembolic and cardiac complications, probably through a reduction in the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and the severity of Covid-19 disease due to vaccine-induced immunity.
“Findings from this study highlight yet another benefit of Covid-19 vaccination. However, further research is needed on the possible waning of the risk reduction over time and on the impact of booster vaccination.”
Time to stop using term ‘long Covid’
Separately, research from Australia has argued, controversially, that it is time to stop using the term ‘long Covid’ for lingering, long-term health effects from the virus.
This is because long Covid symptoms are by and large no worse than the post-viral symptoms people commonly experience after flu, the Queensland Health study has argued.
The study surveyed 5,112 adults who had symptoms of a respiratory illness and underwent PCR testing between May and June 2022. Of those, 2,399 were positive for Covid-19, 995 positive for influenza and 1,718 negative for both.
A year later, participants were asked about any ongoing symptoms and impairment. The research team, led by Queensland’s chief health officer Dr John Gerrard, found no evidence that those who had Covid-19 were more likely to have functional limitations a year on compared with those who did not (3% versus 4.1%).
The 3% of the study participants who had ongoing impairments was similar to the 3.4% reported with ongoing impairments after influenza.
The study looked at specific symptoms in the patients who had moderate to severe impairment, and found in patients who were Covid positive and negative the same percentage (94%) reported one or more of the commonly reported symptoms of long Covid. These are fatigue, breathlessness following exercise, brain fog and changes to taste and smell.
Dr Gerrard has as a result argued that long Covid may have appeared to be a distinct and severe illness because of the high number of people infected with Covid-19 within a short period of time, rather than because of the severity of long Covid symptoms.
“We believe it is time to stop using terms like ‘long Covid’,” he told The Guardian newspaper. “They wrongly imply there is something unique and exceptional about longer-term symptoms associated with this virus. This terminology can cause unnecessary fear, and in some cases, hypervigilance to longer symptoms that can impede recovery.”
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