The risk of long COVID was 36% lower in adolescents vaccinated within 6 months before their first infection than in their unvaccinated peers, suggests an analysis of US Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) trial data published late last week in Vaccine.

The study, led by Massachusetts General Hospital researchers, involved 724 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years who were vaccinated against COVID-19 within the previous 6 months and 507 unvaccinated youth matched on sex, symptom onset, and enrollment date.

Participants were recruited from more than 60 healthcare and community settings, and 86% of vaccinated adolescents reported receiving at least two doses within 18 months before their first COVID-19 infection.

RECOVER-Pediatrics is an observational cohort study of long COVID (LC) based on caregiver-reported survey data that retrospectively analyzes the link between vaccination status and long COVID in youth infected from February 2022 to November 2024, during predominance of the Omicron variant.