Preventive effect of vaccination on long COVID in adolescents with SARS-CoV-2 infection, 2025, Thaweethai et al.

[Chandelier]

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X25012046

Spoiler: Authors

Tanayott Thaweethai a b 1 , Rachel S. Gross c 1 , Deepti B. Pant a , Kyung E. Rhee d , Terry L. Jernigan e , Lawrence C. Kleinman f g , Jessica N. Snowden h , Amy L. Salisbury i , Patricia A. Kinser i , Joshua D. Milner j k , Kelan Tantisira l , David Warburton m , Sindhu Mohandas n , John C. Wood o , Megan L. Fitzgerald p q , Megan Carmilani p r , Aparna Krishnamoorthy a , Harrison T. Reeder a b , Andrea S. Foulkes a b s 2 , Melissa S. Stockwell

Abstract​

Purpose​

In adolescents (12–17 years), it is unknown whether COVID-19 vaccination reduces progression from COVID-19 to Long COVID (LC) beyond preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection. We assessed the effect of vaccination among SARS-CoV-2 infected adolescents.

Methods and results​

Participants were recruited from over 60 US healthcare and community settings. The exposure was any COVID-19 vaccination 6 months prior to infection. The outcome was LC defined using the LC research index. Vaccinated (n = 724) and unvaccinated (n = 507) adolescents were matched on sex, infection date, and enrollment date. The risk of LC was 36 % lower (95 % CI, 17 %, 50 %) in vaccinated compared to unvaccinated participants.

Conclusions​

Vaccination reduces the risk of LC. Given the profound impact LC can have on the health and well-being of adolescents and the limited availability of treatments during this developmental stage, this supports vaccination as a strategy for preventing LC by demonstrating an important secondary prevention effect.

 

[Chandelier]

COVID vaccination cuts risk of long-term symptoms in teens by over a third, data suggest

www.cidrap.umn.edu

COVID vaccination cuts risk of long-term symptoms in teens by over a third, data suggest​

Mary Van Beusekom, MS

The risk of long COVID was 36% lower in adolescents vaccinated within 6 months before their first infection than in their unvaccinated peers, suggests an analysis of US Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) trial data published late last week in Vaccine.

The study, led by Massachusetts General Hospital researchers, involved 724 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years who were vaccinated against COVID-19 within the previous 6 months and 507 unvaccinated youth matched on sex, symptom onset, and enrollment date.

Participants were recruited from more than 60 healthcare and community settings, and 86% of vaccinated adolescents reported receiving at least two doses within 18 months before their first COVID-19 infection.

RECOVER-Pediatrics is an observational cohort study of long COVID (LC) based on caregiver-reported survey data that retrospectively analyzes the link between vaccination status and long COVID in youth infected from February 2022 to November 2024, during predominance of the Omicron variant.

"Studies have shown vaccination to be protective against LC in adults, but evidence in pediatric populations is limited and conflicting," the investigators wrote. "Most studies are electronic health records-based or only include patients from post-COVID clinics."

Vaccination can lower risk 3 ways​

Among infected participants, the risk of LC was 20.7% in unvaccinated participants and 13.3% in vaccinated youth (relative risk [RR], 0.64). The risks of severe persistent symptoms were 6.1% and 4.7% in the unvaccinated and vaccinated groups, respectively (RR, 0.77).

Given the profound impact LC can have on the health and well-being of adolescents and the limited availability of treatments during this developmental stage, this supports vaccination as a strategy for preventing LC by demonstrating an important secondary prevention effect.

The risk of long-term symptoms was 36% lower in vaccinated participants. A sensitivity analysis showed slightly attenuated adjusted RRs (0.74 for long COVID and 0.87 for severe long COVID; risk reduction, 26% and 13%, respectively).

COVID-19 vaccination can lower the risk of long COVID by preventing infection, reducing disease severity, and perhaps by mitigating the longer-term pathophysiologic response to infection, the researchers said.

"The COVID-19 vaccine is relatively unique in having this effect on progression to a chronic condition, despite infection," they wrote. "This highlights that even if infection occurs, recent vaccination still has a protective effect on LC risk."

The authors said that the estimate of vaccine effectiveness beyond infection prevention may be conservative, because the study focused on long COVID present at enrollment and didn't consider intermittent lingering symptoms or subclinical long COVID.

"Given the profound impact LC can have on the health and well-being of adolescents and the limited availability of treatments during this developmental stage, this supports vaccination as a strategy for preventing LC by demonstrating an important secondary prevention effect," they concluded.

 

[BrightCandle]

A third reduction is still pretty poor for something everyone is catching a few times a year. Its also well within the bounds of what other adult vaccinations studies have found. Not that vaccines have been offered to teenagers anyway with the current vaccine policy being over 75s.

 

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COVID-19 vaccination lowers long COVID risk in adolescents

Vaccination against COVID-19 helps reduce long COVID risk in adolescents after their first SARS-CoV-2 infection, a new study finds.

www.eurekalert.org

News Release 6-Nov-2025

COVID-19 vaccination lowers long COVID risk in adolescents​

Peer-Reviewed Publication
Columbia University Irving Medical Center


Nov. 6, 2025--Adolescents who were vaccinated against COVID-19 were less likely to develop long COVID after their first SARS-CoV-2 infection than unvaccinated peers, finds a new study.

The study, led by the NIH-funded RECOVER Initiative, is the first to examine the potential benefits of COVID vaccination in adolescents beyond lowering the severity of initial COVID symptoms.

“These findings provide evidence that COVID vaccination has an important secondary effect in helping to mitigate the risk of long COVID in adolescents,” says Melissa Stockwell, a pediatrician at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and clinical senior author of the study.

The RECOVER research team estimates that approximately 5.8 million youths have experienced long COVID which can include prolonged symptoms such as daytime fatigue, joint and muscle aches, and memory problems.

Previous studies have shown that vaccination against COVID-19 can reduce the risk of long COVID in adults. But evidence of a similar benefit among youths has been limited.

The new study included over 1,200 adolescents from across the United States; 724 were vaccinated against COVID in the six months prior to their first infection and 507 were not vaccinated.

The researchers found that the risk of developing long COVID was over 20% among unvaccinated youths and about 13% among those who were vaccinated—representing a 36% reduction in risk after vaccination.

“Every day, our study sees young people who are unable to fully participate in the activities they enjoy while they deal with long COVID symptoms,” says Stockwell. “While our study did not look at the effects of COVID vaccination in adolescents with subsequent infections, our findings strongly suggest that getting vaccinated against COVID-19 could allow many more adolescents to live their lives normally after COVID infection.”

Additional information

The study, titled “Preventive Effect of Vaccination on Long COVID in Adolescents with SARS-CoV-2 Infection,” by Tanayott Thaweethai, Rachel S. Gross, et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2025.127907, was published online Nov. 1 in Vaccine, Vol. 68 (Dec. 5, 2025).

All authors: Tanayott Thaweethai (Harvard University), Rachel S. Gross (NYU Langone), Deepti B. Pant (Harvard), Kyung E. Rhee (University of California San Diego), Terry L. Jernigan (UCSD), Lawrence C. Kleinman (Rutgers University), Jessica N. Snowden (University of Tennessee), Amy Salisbury (Virginia Commonwealth University), Patricia A. Kinser (Virginia Commonwealth), Joshua D. Milner (Columbia University), Kelan Tantisira (UCSD), David Warburton (University of Southern California), Sindhu Mohandas (USC), John C. Wood (USC), Megan L. Fitzgerald (Patient-Led Research Collaborative, Calabasas, CA), Megan Carmilani (Long COVID Families, Charlotte, NC), Aparna Krishnamoorthy (Harvard), Harrison T. Reeder (Harvard), Andrea S. Foulkes (Harvard), and Melissa S. Stockwell (Columbia University).

The study was funded by NIH agreements OT2HL161841, OT2HL161847, and OT2HL156812. Additional support for the study is reported in the article.

Melissa Stockwell, MD, MPH, is chief of the Division of Child and Adolescent Health and professor of pediatrics at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and professor of population and family health at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. Stockwell is chair of the pediatric coordinating committee for RECOVER.

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Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) is a clinical, research, and educational campus located in New York City. Founded in 1928, CUIMC was one of the first academic medical centers established in the United States of America. CUIMC is home to four professional colleges and schools that provide global leadership in scientific research, health and medical education, and patient care including the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing. For more information, please visit cuimc.columbia.edu.

Vaccine is the pre-eminent journal in the field of vaccinology. It is the official journal of The Japanese Society for Vaccinology and is published by Elsevier. Copies of this paper are available to credentialed journalists upon request. Please contact the Elsevier Newsroom at newsroom@elsevier.com.

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Journal​

Vaccine

DOI​

10.1016/j.vaccine.2025.127907

Subject of Research​

People

Article Title​

Preventive Effect of Vaccination on Long COVID in Adolescents with SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Article Publication Date​

1-Nov-2025

COI Statement​

Melissa Stockwell reports no conflicts. Other disclosures are reported in the article.