President Joe Biden directed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ramp up research into long COVID. The White House's plan includes efforts to increase enrollment in a major study lead by the National Institutes of Health, as well as create a new research task force.
What is long COVID?
Long COVID is defined as a wide range of new, returning, or ongoing symptoms people can experience four or more weeks after first being infected with the virus, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These symptoms include difficulty breathing, cough, fatigue, problems concentrating and body aches, among others.
Scientists and doctors still do not fully understand why these symptoms persist in some people long after their COVID infection have resolved. Even people who only had mild illness or no symptoms at all can develop long COVID. Some individuals can even experience autoimmune conditions that can affect multiple organ systems, including heart, lung, kidney, and brain functions, according to the CDC.
Most concerning, some people, mostly children, can experience multisystem inflammatory syndrome--a condition where different parts of the body become inflamed--during or immediately after a COVID infection. This condition has been linked to long COVID, according to the CDC.
Currently, the only way to prevent long COVID is to prevent infection all together.
In July, the HHS and the Department of Justice ruled that people with long COVID qualify for protections against discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
What is the Biden administration's plan?
The White House has directed the HHS to develop and issue the "first-ever" interagency national research action plan to address long COVID, according to a White House fact sheet. This effort will advance progress in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and provision of services, supports, and intervention for patients with the condition. Biden has appointed HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to lead a national council of multiple federal government departments that will share real time information on how to prevent, detect and treat long COVID.
Biden's plan also includes efforts to accelerate enrollment of 40,000 people in the National Institutes of Health's study of the long-term effects of COVID infection, known as Recover, which the institution launched back in September. According to StatNews, the study only reached 3% of its recruitment goal as of March 18, more than a year after the NIH received $1.2 billion to conduct the effort.
The federal effort will also draw information for a nationwide survey from the Department of Veterans Affairs about persistent symptoms following COVID infection, and a Department of Defence study on the risk factors of developing the disease.
Moreover, Biden's 2023 budget calls for the investment of $20 million to help provide better care to patients with long COVID, as well as $25 million set aside to boost CDC research into the protection risk factors and health risks surrounding the condition. However, this funding is conditional on Congressional approval.