Since COVID didn't have the same slow incubation time and 100 percent fatality rate that early HIV did, a massive sustained COVID-industrial complex was going to be a harder sell, even with all of the hysteria, doom-mongering, and misinformation served up by the media and their preferred "Experts." With the pandemic ending and SARS-CoV-2 entering an endemic phase with milder variants, how could officials clamoring for more money, power, and influence keep the gravy train rolling?
The answer to all of their prayers was Long COVID. As I've written previously, Long COVID consists of "Anything bad that happens after you've had COVID." Since billions of people ultimately got infected, this includes a sizeable number of strange occurrences-even unexplained tooth loss was blamed on COVID. The broad and nebulous definition of Long COVID is compounded by studies that relied on self-reported symptoms, which could introduce bias.
Several studies reported that Long COVID symptoms were more associated with the belief in Long COVID and a history of anxiety disorders than any measurable pathology.
These glaring limitations haven't stopped the groundbreaking of the Long COVID-Industrial Complex, which was announced by HHS secretary Javier Becerra on July 31st. Not surprisingly, HHS officials eschewed my accurate name for the more official-sounding "Office of Long COVID Research," created as part of the $1.15 billion 2021 RECOVER initiative.
With all of that money up for grabs, newly-minted Long COVID researchers will be scrambling to confirm Long COVID is a nefarious condition that affects as many people as possible, in as many ways as possible.
This says a lot more about the RECOVER initiative than it does about Long COVID. If everything can be blamed on Long COVID, then nothing can be blamed on Long COVID. It's all confirmation studies from here on out.
Since the COVID pandemic has ended and HIV continues to threaten at-risk populations without access to medicine, the actual need for HIV research will remain greater, while concerns about Long COVID among the public will fade.
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