The national COVID-19 vaccination effort is failing. Last year only 22% of adults received the latest COVID booster, which is less than half the flu vaccination rate, although COVID is twice as deadly.
Amid growing concerns about the effects of long COVID and a likely surge in infections this winter from an even more contagious variant, we need more effective public health messages to encourage immunization.
There has been a lot of talk about the consequences of COVID in general. health, productivity and the economy. But recent research suggests a compelling new basis for vaccine advocacy: COVID's ability to reduce intelligence.
Using data from more than 100,000 people who completed online tests in England, the authors of a study published by the New England Journal of Medicine found that those recovering from COVID, including those with mild symptoms, had measurable cognitive deficits. Even participants who had “mild COVID-19 with resolved symptoms” exhibited deficits.proportional to a 3 point loss in IQ”compared to uninfected participants.
Cognitive loss was more pronounced in those who experienced more severe infections. Participants who had long COVID, that is, with symptoms lasting more than 12 weeks, had on average the equivalent of a 6-point IQ loss, and those who had been “admitted to the intensive care unit had the equivalent of a loss of 9-point loss.”
The study results, which are supported by those of a previous study observational study In Norway they are not very well known. Yes, many people know that COVID infections can cause short-term “brain fog,” but these studies raise the possibility of cognitive deficits that can last for years. This suggests yet another reason to get vaccinated: it can protect your intellect.
Many people consider their ability to reason as a central aspect of their identity; That's one of the reasons why the prospect of dementia is so frightening. This research suggests that receiving a booster may be a way to preserve that ability and promote brain health. If you want to continue solving Wordle or Saturday's crossword, you have an extra reason to get a boost.
This message is especially important for younger populations who perceive themselves to be at lower risk. These findings underscore the fact that COVID-19 is not just another flu; its potential to cause lasting cognitive impairment is too significant to ignore. Young people, whose more active social lives often drive the spread of COVID, can safeguard not only their health but also their intelligence and their future by getting vaccinated.
Many young people accept the risk of infection based on their strong physical health, but underestimate the virus's potential to cause long-term neurological damage. The fact that even mild cases of COVID can cause such significant harm could help challenge prevailing complacency about vaccination.
Public health messages about vaccination have often focused on helping othersparticularly the elderly. And it does: a study published by the lancet Last year it was found that every 150 people who received the booster avoided a COVID emergency room visit. But while it's nice to do something for others, research suggests that self-interest is a stronger motivator, especially since strokes are often accompanied by brief aches, fevers, and other symptoms as our immune systems ramp up in response. These disadvantages seem like a small price to pay for the precious benefit of preserving intelligence.
We should emphasize cognitive health consequences not to promote fear of the disease but to foster an informed understanding of it. There is still a lot we don't know about the long-term consequences of COVID for cognitive function and whether they will persist as new. variants emerge. But we know enough to urge the public to think not only about surviving the virus but also about thriving after recovering.
We now have data that underscores the unforeseen risks of the virus that should be especially alarming for younger people who place great importance on their mental acuity. That should motivate more of us to strengthen our community defenses against this formidable disease.
Of course, it's smart to be fully vaccinated: that's why more than 95% from a group that knows COVID better than most (doctors) get vaccinated. But vaccination can also help keep You are smart. We should all keep this in mind when deciding whether to receive our COVID booster doses this fall.
Ian Ayres is a professor at Yale Law School. Lisa Sanders is a professor at Yale School of Medicine and director of the multidisciplinary Yale Long-Term Covid Care Center.
