How Long Covid Derailed the Career Paths of Millions | Pivot

1. KSKara Swisher0:00

   ... COVID has reshaped our relationship with work in so many ways, and for people suffering from long COVID, career paths have been dramatically derailed, according to a new article in the Journal. Um, as, uh, e- uh, eh, econom- uh, economists estimate that long COVID has pushed about one million Americans out of the labor force. More than 5% of adults in the US have long COVID, and is the most prevalent among people in their prime working years. The federal government has said long COVID can be classified as a disability, allowing workers to seek accommodations, like remote work and flexible hours. Jeff, talk a little bit about it, 'cause it's back. COVID's back. I went to the Democrat National Convention. I was gotten COVID. I still have not gotten COVID, which is astonishing.

2. JSDr. Jeff Swisher0:33

   Yeah, it's amazing.

3. KSKara Swisher0:34

   I know. I'm a unicorn. Um, but talk-

4. JSDr. Jeff Swisher0:36

   Yeah.

5. KSKara Swisher0:36

   ... a little bit about what's happening on the ground now, and then long COVID in s- in specifics. And then George, as someone who's experienced long COVID, I'd love to hear from you. Go ahead.

6. JSDr. Jeff Swisher0:45

   So, so first let me just briefly talk about the vaccine is available soon. Um, it's the, um, the, the new vaccine covers the most common variant right now. It's the Omicron, uh, KP, uh, 2-1. That's the vaccine. That's the variant that the vaccine now covers, which is gonna cover the most common forms of COVID. The most common 37% of COVID cases are, uh, KP311. Um, and, um, you know, the, like the influenza virus, the COVID virus changes its, uh, surface proteins. It's called the spike proteins. And so you need to be updated on the vaccine. Uh, vaccines give about four months of durable, uh, immunity. That's why it's important to get your boosters as well. But, uh, everybody (clears throat) six months or older should get, uh, this new vaccine. Um, and the issue of long COVID is really important. They estimate that 30% of people have some form of long COVID symptoms who've had COVID, and about f- 1 to 5% of people have serious long-term COVID symptoms. Um, and I think a lot of it goes unrecognized as, uh, just depression, fatigue, anxiety, but these are all possibly, um, elements of long COVID, and it, it affects literally every body system. Every organ system is affected by long COVID. It's your neurologic system. It's your kidneys. It's your liver. It's your skin. It's your joints, all these things. Um, and it's a real thing. I, I have, I can s- I can, off the top of my head, I have two colleagues who I really respect and admire. One is a surgeon and one is a nurse that I work with, who have basically, uh, been, um, unable to work. One retired. They, he basically just, uh, felt that, uh, he couldn't continue, uh, feeling the way he was feeling. Brain fog is a really important element of long COVID. Um, and, uh, you know, fortunately for him, he's got so many hobbies and interests, and he, you know, he's my age. And so it's, you know, maybe it was time to think about retiring.

7. KSKara Swisher2:35

   And, and people didn't take it seriously, correct, George? I mean, uh, this is something you, you had. Uh, I have several friends, uh, uh, who have it, who've written about it, Jen Senior, Laura Holson, um, and very severe, and a lot of people, they still suffer from people not believing them in some, like, it, it, uh, same thing with Lyme disease or, uh, some of the other, um, diseases in this genre of, "I'm tired," right, essentially. Uh, talk a little bit about your experience.

8. GHGeorge Hahn3:01

   Oh, Jeff, you just brought me back to (clears throat) some of the things that I were fee- I was feeling at the time, neurological. I couldn't go out in certain public. I would start to have a n- n- like a n- nervous system breakdown, uh, on a subway or in a theater. That's where I had my first panic attack. And this was, uh, n- this had never, I had no history of this whatsoever. And then the feeling that I'm having a heart attack. I couldn't be around other people, which just sort of added, uh, uh, crowds of people, I should say, which just sort of added to, uh, the loneliness/isolation aspect, which is part of this, um, you know, long COVID effect.

9. KSKara Swisher3:44

   Go, what happened? Like, what, uh, how did it progress?

10. GHGeorge Hahn3:46

    I, uh, the heart attack feeling, the, uh, panic feeling, the neurological, all of that stuff, and the fatigue. There was brain fog. And eventually, we're going back two years, and eventually it just kind of, um, over time, when I went to the COVID care center at Mount Sinai, the doctor with whom I spoke believed me, and as I gave her my litany of symptoms, nodded her head. She was the first one. She kinda nodded her head, and she said, "We're seeing a ton of this."

11. KSKara Swisher4:17

    Mm-hmm.

12. GHGeorge Hahn4:17

    "Uh, so if it makes you feel less lonely in your experience, let that be a comfort," which it was. And she said, "The bad news is that there is nothing you can do. You just kinda have to ride it out." And that was a pain in the ass. But eventually, she was right. She said it could be six months, could be a year. It was f- out, uh, uh, a year out before I started to feel sort of normal.

13. JSDr. Jeff Swisher4:39

    When you're in, uh, medical school, one of the things (microphone rustles) you learn, uh, to differentiate and understand the difference between signs and symptoms, right? So symptoms are things, like, that you're feeling, like fatigue. Uh, you know, my muscles hurt. You know, these are, uh, more the subjective things. There are actually signs of, of, as well, and signs are things like fever, you know, elevated heart rate, um, uh, eh, el- you know, laboratory studies, elevation, sedimentation rate, uh, in your blood, et cetera. And more and more as people are studying this, they're really understanding that, uh, long COVID has sign- both signs and symptoms. And so doctors are more astute now about looking for those signs because they're objective as well as the subjective sensations and believing people when they say exactly what you're experienced.

14. KSKara Swisher5:23

    Right.

15. GHGeorge Hahn5:23

    I could not have worked in an office. I, I was-

16. KSKara Swisher5:26

    Right.

17. GHGeorge Hahn5:26

    I had the f- good fortune of doing whatever I do to make a living from home or wherever. But working in an office would've been a problem.

18. KSKara Swisher5:33

    So when should people take these, uh, Louis, I'm just curious. I, I, uh, I, you, you are going to get your COVID-19 vaccine (laughs) I hope. Um, but you're an adult. Um, how do y- younger people think? I don't think younger people are thinking about this. It's sort of like a flu vax- uh, vaccine or whatever. Um, uh, the CDC will recommend that adults and children six months and older get updated vaccines. Um, are you, how do you look at it?

19. LSLouie Swisher5:56

    Well, I mean, I think for a lot of people my age, um, and maybe more people in general, uh, we each, every once in a while, we get a little bit of a cold or a s- cough or something like that, and we're all like, "Oh, oh, wait. Could it be the old friend, you know? Is i- are they back?" Um, but yeah. I think there's definitely, um, especially people with someone important in their lives or some k- kind of purpose, um, if they go to work, if they have, uh, they live with their grandparents, or they have people within their network that are more susceptible, I think people who care, care, and people who don't, don't. Um, so I'm definitely a bit behind. I probably need to definitely do for a new vaccine, so-

20. KSKara Swisher6:30

    Yeah, you, you don't have to for a while.

21. LSLouie Swisher6:31

    ... I'm on top of that. I actually, well, you know what? And maybe even to answer your question even better, I didn't even know there was a new vaccine till just now. So-

22. KSKara Swisher6:36

    Okay. (laughs)

23. LSLouie Swisher6:37

    ... maybe, maybe that's an answer in itself.

24. KSKara Swisher6:39

    Oh, see, this is the problem.

25. JSDr. Jeff Swisher6:39

    (laughs)

26. LSLouie Swisher6:39

    Is it?

27. KSKara Swisher6:39

    Yeah, this is the-

28. JSDr. Jeff Swisher6:40

    Well, they need to roll out that information thing.

29. GHGeorge Hahn6:42

    Yeah.

30. LSLouie Swisher6:42

    Yeah. I don't know.

Episode duration: 7:58