A study of breakthrough COVID-19 infections has revealed that besides decreasing the risk of severe disease and hospitalization, vaccines can also reduce the likelihood of having long-term COVID-19 symptoms.

Researchers wrote in The Lancet Infectious Diseases that the odds of having symptoms for 28 days or more following post-vaccination infection were reduced by half by having received two vaccine doses. The findings indicate that the risk of long COVID is decreased in individuals who have received both vaccine doses, while also considering the already known reduced risk of infection overall.

The data for the study included over 1.2 million adults who had received a first dose of vaccine, and among these, 0.5% (6,030) tested positive for a breakthrough infection after receiving the first dose. Among around 1 million adults who had received a second dose of COVID-19 vaccine, only 0.2% (2,370) tested positive… (CNN, September 2, 2021)