Dr. Ronan Glynn:

We cannot say there is a classical picture for the symptoms of long Covid yet. I also express caution regarding the estimate of a 10% rate, because it could be as low as 2.5%. A major study in the UK suggested that 2.5% of adults aged between 35 and 70 experienced symptoms of long Covid after contracting the virus. Equally, the estimated rate in children decreased to 0.3% 0.4%.

The common symptoms mentioned are fatigue, shortness of breath and some problems with cognition. Again, however, the duration of those symptoms and how those affected recover over time remains an area of significant research. I take this opportunity to again drive home the key message that long Covid is a risk for anyone who gets infected with the virus. That is a reality. It is for this reason that we have been doing all we have been doing during the past two years and it is why we continue to emphasise the need for people who have not been vaccinated or those who have not availed of the booster vaccine to come forward and get the jab. At a population level, it is true that most people who get infected with Omicron will not end up in hospital or severely unwell. It is also true, however, that a proportion of people who do get infected will end up in those situations and another percentage, albeit we cannot accurately quantify it yet, will end up with long Covid-type symptoms. Again, therefore, I urge anyone who has not been vaccinated already to get vaccinated now. It is never too late. There will be no judgment if people come forward at this stage and say that while they were not sure previously, they have now decided they want to get vaccinated.

We say that from the perspective of dealing with the Omicron variant now. We do not know, however, what may manifest down the line. We do not know if a new variant that impacts more people more severely will emerge in the months to come. Therefore, although we are moving out of this stage of the pandemic at the population level and the picture is relatively optimistic, we do not know what is ahead.

It therefore remains very important that people protect themselves insofar as they can.