All COVID-19 infections can potentially result in damage to the body, which can manifest in post-viral symptoms. Typically, Long COVID is classified as lasting post-viral symptoms from COVID-19 infection. 

As quoted from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), "Long COVID is a wide range of new, returning, or ongoing health problems that people experience after being infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. Most people with COVID-19 get better within a few days to a few weeks after infection, so at least 4 weeks after infection is the start of when Long COVID could first be identified."

In regards to being 'at high risk' for significantly more negative outcomes from COVID-19 such as hospitalization, death, severe illness, and Long COVID, at least 75% of U.S. adults are considered ‘high risk,' including, but not limited to: 

• BIPOC 

• LGBTQIA+ 

• People with depression

• People with anxiety

• Anyone with any mood disorder or mental illness 

• Anyone who has had COVID-19 in the past (known or unknown)

• People with disabilities

• People with any other underlying health conditions 

• People experiencing socioeconomic disparity

For example, BIPOC make up close to 65% of UCLA’s undergraduate population alone, and therefore most of UCLA’s undergraduate population is at heightened risk for Long COVID and other outcomes from COVID-19, just based off of demographic data.

A study by Allison L. Skinner-Dorkenoo, a professor of Psychology at the University of Georgia, asked white people how aware they were of COVID's racial disparities and later how much they feared COVID. The study found that "the more people perceived there to be racial disparities, the less fearful they were of COVID-19, and the less they supported safety precautions to prevent the spread" (Dorkenoo). 

In other words, the more unequal the effect of COVID on different races, the less white people tended to care on average about COVID and related COVID safety concerns. Racial inequality is at play in many facets of American Society, unfortunately, including public health. 

Generally, white people are beginning to feel COVID is not their problem as they are impacted at lower rates. In reality, COVID is everyone's problem. If disparities continue to worsen and public support for COVID-19 programs continues to wane, then the spread of COVID-19 will continue to damage all communities. We are in this together, and it is critical to understand that we are still in the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only is this social response to the racial disparities of COVID-19 an objective wrong, but it is also a public health concern that will impact every population within the United States and abroad. 

A short study published on February 4, 2024, confirms the racial disparities of COVID are still prevalent. Ethnic and racial minority groups suffered adverse effects on health status, activity level, and absence from work as compared to non-Hispanic and White populations.

Jaime Seltzer, the Director of Scientific and Medical Outreach at #MEAction, said the following in an interview about ME/CFS and Long COVID:

"Based on the Patient-Led Research Collaborative research, I estimate that about 75% of Long COVID patients show signs of ME/CFS. The other 25% may have specific damage to an organ or organ system from the virus itself or another disease triggered by infection. Some people have co-morbidities strongly associated with ME/CFS, like postural tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, a kind of dysautonomia, but those may also occur on their own."

...

"Community-based studies show that Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) are slightly more likely to have ME/CFS than whites, but the diagnosis is practically barred for them because of bias and limited access. COVID has disproportionately affected BIPOC populations, so we should expect to see Long COVID and ME/CFS among those patients, too. Privileged white women are the ones who end up with a diagnosis because they have the time, money, and support to reach a diagnosis that is prohibitively inaccessible to many others."

In regards to treatment and trying to improve symptoms of ME/CFS, "people with post-infectious syndromes may have a better chance of recovery and improvement early in the disease. People who promptly begin a treatment called pacing—being active when able and resting when tired—may have a better chance of getting better."