Nearly 36 million in Europe may have experienced long Covid, WHO official says

Nearly 36 million people in Europe may have had long-lasting health problems from coronavirus infections they got during the first three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization's regional director said Tuesday.

Nearly 36 million people in Europe may have had long-lasting health problems from coronavirus infections they got during the first three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization's regional director said Tuesday.

Dr. Hans Kluge said “long COVID” remained “a complex condition (that) we still know very little about" and “a glaring blind spot in our knowledge.”

“Unless we develop comprehensive diagnostics and treatment for long COVID, we will never truly recover from the pandemic," Kluge said, reiterating that older adults, people with underlying medical conditions and others with weakened immune systems should continue getting vaccinated