London, Feb 16 (IANS): People who are vaccinated are less likely to develop long Covid even if they catch the virus, reveals a rapid review by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

According to the BBC, the research team looked at the available evidence to date from 15 studies around the world and found that while some who are jabbed catch Covid, vaccines reduce infection risk and illness, including symptoms like fatigue.

Unvaccinated people, who catch Covid and show symptoms of long Covid, do better if they then get vaccinated.

Some of the studies in the review looked at the effect of vaccination given before infection and found that people with Covid, who received two doses of Pfizer, AstraZeneca or Moderna vaccines or one dose of the Janssen vaccine, were about half as likely as people who received one dose or were unvaccinated to develop long Covid symptoms lasting more than 28 days.

It also found that vaccine effectiveness against most long-Covid symptoms was highest in people aged 60 years and over.

Others that looked at the effects of vaccines in people who already had long-Covid symptoms found that vaccines may improve rather than worsen Covid symptoms, either immediately or over several weeks.

According to the UKHSA, around 2 per cent of the UK's population have reported symptoms of long Covid, such as fatigue, shortness of breath and muscle or joint pain.

Symptoms like these can last for more than four weeks after the infection, the report said.

People who received two doses of vaccine against Covid are less likely to experience this or will have the symptoms for a shorter time, it added.