Preventive effect of vaccination on Long COVID in adolescents with SARS-CoV-2 infection
Thaweethai, T; Gross, RS; Pant, DB; et al., Vaccine
Published
October 2025
Journal
Vaccine
Abstract
Purpose: In adolescents (12-17 years), it is unknown whether COVID-19 vaccination reduces progression from COVID-19 to Long COVID (LC) beyond preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection. We assessed the effect of vaccination among SARS-CoV-2 infected adolescents.
Methods and results: Participants were recruited from over 60 US healthcare and community settings. The exposure was any COVID-19 vaccination 6 months prior to infection. The outcome was LC defined using the LC research index. Vaccinated (n = 724) and unvaccinated (n = 507) adolescents were matched on sex, infection date, and enrollment date. The risk of LC was 36% lower (95% CI, 17%, 50%) in vaccinated compared to unvaccinated participants.
Conclusions: Vaccination reduces the risk of LC. Given the profound impact LC can have on the health and well-being of adolescents and the limited availability of treatments during this developmental stage, this supports vaccination as a strategy for preventing LC by demonstrating an important secondary prevention effect.
Authors
Tanayott Thaweethai, Rachel S Gross, Deepti B Pant, Kyung E Rhee, Terry L Jernigan, Lawrence C Kleinman, Jessica N Snowden, Amy L Salisbury, Patricia A Kinser, Joshua D Milner, Kelan Tantisira, David Warburton, Sindhu Mohandas, John C Wood, Megan L Fitzgerald, Megan Carmilani, Aparna Krishnamoorthy, Harrison T Reeder, Andrea S Foulkes, Melissa S Stockwell, RECOVER-Pediatrics Consortium
Keywords
Adolescent health; COVID-19; Long COVID; Secondary prevention; Vaccination
Short Summary
This RECOVER study looked at whether the COVID-19 vaccine could help protect teenagers ages 12–17 from developing Long COVID. Researchers studied 1,231 teenagers enrolled in RECOVER who had confirmed COVID-19. Some were vaccinated before they got COVID-19 (724 teenagers), and some were not (507 teenagers). Researchers made sure the 2 groups were similar in terms of sex, date when they got COVID-19, and when they joined the study to make comparisons fair. They found that teenagers who were vaccinated in the 6 months before getting COVID-19 for the first time were about one-third less likely to get Long COVID. This study is important because it shows that COVID-19 vaccines, which were previously found to prevent getting COVID-19, can also protect against developing Long COVID in young people.