The term “long haulers” refers to the growing number of people who contracted COVID-19 and continue to suffer from symptoms past the anticipated recovery time – even though tests might reveal no virus left in the body. COVID-19 “long haulers” continue to struggle with debilitating symptoms, often alone, in the shadows of this devastating disease. Having escaped the worst, they nevertheless continue to struggle with symptoms that in many cases are indistinguishable from ME/CFS.
After contracting COVID-19 early in the pandemic, Hormone Therapeutics CEO Hunter Howard endured a long, painful recovery process. Shocked by the lack of solutions to the epidemic, he launched the Global Pandemic Coalition to drive much needed services and connected with other survivors to start the search for answers. Karyn Bishof is a firefighter and paramedic who has been dealing with the lingering effects of COVID-19, many of which are reminiscent of ME/CFS, for eight months. Ms. Bishof founded the COVID-19 Long Hauler Advocacy Project, which is focused on advocacy for survivors, long haulers and their care.
In this webinar, Solve M.E. President & CEO Oved Amitay and Advocacy & Community Relations Director Emily Taylor will talk to Howard and Bishof about their experiences with long-COVID and how their respective backgrounds in IT health care and emergency medical services have informed their approaches to gaining community-based knowledge. We’ll explore how COVID long haulers and the ME/CFS community can join forces for progress in the study, understanding and management of both COVID-19 and ME/CFS.
