Long covid, the symptoms that can linger for months or even years after infection with the pandemic virus, is still a subject of considerable uncertainty. The virus can damage the body in a multitude of ways, leading researchers to list more than 200 symptoms, and there is no single diagnostic test or cure. But even with the unknowns, evidence suggests that long covid could burden millions of people. Its effects — on individuals, but also on society at large — could be protracted and expensive.
The first study notes that the Social Security Administration runs two programs to provide disability benefits: Social Security Disability Insurance, or SSDI, and Supplemental Security Income, or SSI. As of December, 8.5 million Americans received benefits through SSDI and 7.4 million Americans through SSI. Based on population surveys, the researchers found, in 2022 approximately 8.9 million adults in the United States reported long covid symptoms. Just recently,found an estimated 6.
These studies are early warnings in what will probably be a long process. The nation must prepare to cope accurately and compassionately with a wave of illness and impairment that might come.The 2024 ‘Deciders’: Who are they and what makes them tick?