How Long Covid Derailed the Career Paths of Millions | Pivot

... 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.

Yeah, it's amazing.

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

Yeah.

... 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.

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.