Winter is quickly approaching, marking yet another turn around the sun for the COVID-19 pandemic. But there is a silver lining when it comes to inoculation progress. More than 80% of the U.S. population has received at least one vaccine dose, and 10% have received a bivalent booster. But long COVID—a mysterious chronic condition affecting as many as 80% of COVID survivors—remains a significant business concern with broader workforce implications.
In late August, the Brookings Institute released a jaw-dropping report finding that long COVID has forced between 2 million to 4 million working-age Americans out of the workforce, accounting for at least $170 billion in lost wages annually. (More conservative estimates place the number of Americans out of work due to long COVID at 1 million). Even more worrying, this number is only a fraction of the 6.8% of U.S. adults who currently report having long COVID symptoms.
