Coronavirus: Omicron less likely to result in long Covid among double-jabbed, UK study shows
- The chance of twice-vaccinated adults infected with Omicron BA.1 strain having long Covid 4 to 8 weeks later was 50 per cent lower than those who had Delta
- Also, no difference in risk of long Covid between first infections with Delta compared to the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants among triple-vaccinated adults
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 is much less likely than Delta to result in long Covid in people who have had two doses of vaccine, new figures in the UK suggest.
Data shows the odds of double-vaccinated adults infected with the Omicron BA.1 strain reporting having long Covid four to eight weeks later were 50 per cent lower than those who had Delta.
The experimental statistics, published in May, also suggest there is no evidence of a difference in risk of long Covid between first infections with Delta compared to the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants among triple-vaccinated adults.
But Britain’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the odds of triple-jabbed adults reporting long Covid symptoms four to eight weeks after first being infected were 22 per cent higher with the Omicron BA.2 variant compared to the BA.1 strain.
There was, however, no statistical evidence of a difference in the likelihood of activity-limiting long Covid between the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants, it added.
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The ONS said: “Among double-vaccinated, adult study participants, the socio-demographically adjusted prevalence of self-reported long Covid four to eight weeks after a first coronavirus (Covid-19) infection compatible with the Delta variant was 15.9 per cent. This is compared with 8.7 per cent for infections compatible with the Omicron BA.1 variant.