Americans infected with the coronavirus's omicron variant are less likely to develop symptoms typical of long covid than those who had covid-19 earlier in the pandemic, according to the largest-ever study of who is most vulnerable to being sickened - or debilitated - by the virus's lingering effects.
The analysis of nearly 5 million U.S. patients who had covid, a study based on a collaboration between The Washington Post and research partners, shows that 1 in 16 people with omicron received medical care for symptoms associated with long covid within several months of being infected. Patients exposed to the coronavirus during the first wave of pandemic illness - from early 2020 to late spring 2021 - were most prone to develop long covid, with 1 in 12 suffering persistent symptoms.