Every tenth person is affected by long-term effects after a corona infection. Many feel let down by politics. The situation is similar for victims of vaccinations. Green politician Katrin Göring-Eckardt has visited those affected – and promises help.
Exhaustion, shortness of breath, lack of concentration or anxiety are some of the symptoms that some people suffer from after a corona infection or after a vaccination. They are also often affected by ME/CFS, a form of chronic fatigue. So far, there have been few contact points for them. There is a lack of funds for research and therapy offers. The Vice President of the Bundestag and Green Party politician Katrin Göring-Eckardt wants to change that.
t-online: Ms Göring-Eckardt, are we currently experiencing a “pandemic after the pandemic”? With thousands of people suffering from post-Covid, ME/CFS (chronic fatigue) or vaccine damage?
Katrin Göring-Eckardt: I wouldn’t call it that, but the number of people affected, especially Post Covid and ME/CFS, is huge. A Canadian government expert has just called it “a mass disability event.” According to estimates by the WHO, around ten percent of those infected with corona develop Long Covid. Experts estimate that 10 to 20 percent of these will get ME/CFS. Not to forget that even before the pandemic, it had to be assumed that there were 250,000 ME/CFS patients. For comparison: That is as many as multiple sclerosis sufferers. It is quite possible that we are talking about at least one million people affected in Germany alone. You urgently need help.
Long Covid, Post-Vac und ME/CFS
Long Covid includes symptoms that last more than four weeks after a Covid infection. The term post-vac syndrome is used in connection with certain health impairments after a corona vaccination. ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) is an independent, complex clinical picture that often occurs in connection with Long Covid or Post-Vac Syndrome. Those affected suffer from impaired performance, which is accompanied by severe physical and mental fatigue.
You spent a week talking to people who are suffering from long-term effects after a Covid disease or corona vaccination. What surprised you the most?
Caring for those affected remains a major problem. Some cannot even find a family doctor to look after them. ME/CFS also places a huge strain on family life. I have great respect for how they do it. And I learned how difficult it is for affected children and young people.
The illness robs them of their childhood and adolescence: instead of meeting up with friends, they have to be isolated at home. They are often unable to attend regular classes or continue their education. I met a student in Bavaria who, although she cannot go to school, would be able to follow the lessons from home by the hour. Donations financed an avatar, a kind of mini-robot that is set up in the classroom, which transmits the lessons to her via video and which she can even use to speak up. Only: The parents of all other students must give their consent to this avatar. And some didn’t want that because they were concerned about privacy. It’s definitely not malice. But we still need a lot of clarification here.
More information is needed at all levels. The student is just one example of many. I was told about youth welfare offices that take sick children out of their families because they believe that the parents are preventing them from going to school. There is still little awareness in schools and offices that affected young people need individual framework conditions in order to be able to take the final examination. Even most doctors know too little. There is not even a general medical definition of Long Covid, ME/CFS and Post-Vac and the associated symptoms. This is urgently needed so that every family doctor can diagnose it. At the moment, those affected are finding almost no help. But it’s not just a medical question.
All of the victims I spoke to had a higher education or were the children of academic parents. They had an incredibly difficult time fighting for help. How do people from different social milieus or with poor language skills manage it? What if you go to the doctor and they say you don’t have anything. And that’s it. The little knowledge about ME/CFS must not also be distributed socially unfairly. We need to make these diseases more visible.
