Association between COVID-19 vaccination, SARS-CoV-2 variants, and post COVID-19 condition: A cross-sectional study

Area of Science:

• Infectious Diseases
• Public Health
• Clinical Medicine

Background:

• Persistent symptoms after COVID-19, known as post-COVID-19 condition (PCC), affect many individuals.
• Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are crucial for quantifying patient-reported symptom severity.
• The influence of COVID-19 vaccination and infection variants on PCC remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore vaccination and variant trends in individuals with PCC.
• To investigate the association between vaccination status, infection variant, and abnormal PROMs in PCC patients.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 1,587 patients from British Columbia Post-COVID-19 Clinics (March 2020 - Oct 2022).
• Inclusion criteria: persistent symptoms, abnormal PROMs, and baseline questionnaire within 6 months of infection.
• PROMs assessed fatigue, shortness of breath, PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Logistic regression analyzed associations.

Main Results:

• Full vaccination was linked to reduced PTSD likelihood in non-hospitalized patients.
• Hospitalized patients infected with alpha and delta variants showed increased dyspnea.
• Gamma variant infection was associated with a lower likelihood of PTSD.

Conclusions:

• Partial or full COVID-19 vaccination did not elevate the risk of common PCC symptoms.
• Alpha and delta variant infections correlated with increased dyspnea, potentially due to acute illness severity and lung function impairment.