WASHINGTON (Nexstar) — The Biden Administration has ordered a government-wide effort to execute a plan to research, detect and treat what has been called “long COVID.”
Millions of Americans could be experiencing symptoms of COVID that linger long after the virus has ran its course in the body.
“I had more of like a blizzard of allergic reactions,” Kaine said. “One of them was sort of like, instantaneously, I felt like all my nerve endings were tingling.”
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said he’s one of those people who has dealt with long COVID.
“And it’s 24/7 for the last two years,” he added.
The symptoms can vary widely.
“Neurological symptoms, cardiac symptoms, pulmonary symptoms, muscle pain and fatigue symptoms” are among the lingering symptoms of long COVID, Kaine said.
He said if your body feels different than before you had COVID, you should see a doctor.
“Long COVID is real and there is still so much we don’t know about it,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra.
Becerra said to help Americans who are struggling with long COVID, President Joe Biden instructed his department to establish a national action plan “leading a government-wide response to long COVID, focused on three main goals.”
Those goals are:
- Improving care, services and support
- Enhancing education and outreach among the public, private and medical communities
- Advancing research
“We’ll continue to assess and highlight the long-term effects of COVID-19 on our hardest hit and highest risk communities and make sure they receive the support they need,” Becerra said.
Becerra said the agency will share information in real-time on how to prevent, detect and treat long COVID.
