It is unclear how many people might experience long-term symptoms if they become infected after getting vaccinated for COVID-19.
COVID-19 vaccines seem to be effective for preventing severe illness and death from the coronavirus, but some people do get infected after receiving them. In these “breakthrough” cases, the effectiveness of a vaccine is still unknown, so health experts say it should serve to lessen the severity of any symptoms experienced if they arise.
The research focuses on whether breakthrough cases of the virus such as those could lead to long-term COVID-19. People with these types of infections may have lingering symptoms a month or more after an infection. The condition most often develops in people who had severe initial infections, but can also develop even if they had minor or no symptoms initially.