Very high rates (20-50%, depending on the definition) of long covid are not hard for me to accept on priors. I know 3 people around my age (40s) who have gotten covid, and they all were quite healthy prior to infection & now have long covid symptoms of some sort. One has pancreatic damage and is now borderline diabetic. Another has brain fog and heart problems that landed them in the hospital months later. And a third (who had a post-vaccination breakthrough infection) has had classic ME/CFS symptoms including post-exertional malaise for months now. All 3 are highly accomplished people who I know personally and I highly doubt are malingering. Long covid is the primary covid risk for middle-aged people, and it's the reason we should all be getting boosters, since long covid risk scales with infection risk.
Very high rates (20-50%, depending on the definition) of long covid are not hard for me to accept on priors. I know 3 people around my age (40s) who have gotten covid, and they all were quite healthy prior to infection & now have long covid symptoms of some sort. One has pancreatic damage and is now borderline diabetic. Another has brain fog and heart problems that landed them in the hospital months later. And a third (who had a post-vaccination breakthrough infection) has had classic ME/CFS symptoms including post-exertional malaise for months now. All 3 are highly accomplished people who I know personally and I highly doubt are malingering. Long covid is the primary covid risk for middle-aged people, and it's the reason we should all be getting boosters, since long covid risk scales with infection risk.