--- title: Biden Administration Calls for More Long COVID Research description: In a pair of reports, the Biden Administration called for more research into Long COVID's prevalence, risk factors, and treatment. canonical: https://time.com/6203133/biden-administration-long-covid-research/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-08-03T16:00:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T14:34:45.760Z article:section: Health og:title: Biden Administration Calls for More Long COVID Research og:description: The Administration detailed Long COVID priorities in a pair of reports released Aug. 3 og:url: https://time.com/6203133/biden-administration-long-covid-research/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95f502431f38b61b/698a344e096a940d596acd34/rachel-levine.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Rachel Levine og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Biden Administration Calls for More Long COVID Research twitter:description: The Administration detailed Long COVID priorities in a pair of reports released Aug. 3 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95f502431f38b61b/698a344e096a940d596acd34/rachel-levine.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Biden Administration Calls for an 'All-Hands-on-Deck' Effort to Study Long COVID ## Video: Amid China's Protests, Nancy Pelosi Says the U.S. Will Not Abandon Taiwan [Watch (HLS stream): Amid China's Protests, Nancy Pelosi Says the U.S. Will Not Abandon Taiwan](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/U6oYPKam.m3u8) (1:11)  _Published 2022-08-03. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meeting leaders in Taiwan despite warnings from China, said Wednesday that she and other members of Congress in a visiting delegation are showing they will not abandon their commitment to the self-governing island._  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Aug 3, 2022 4:00 PM UTC  HHS' Dr. Rachel Levine during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 25, 2021. HHS' Dr. Rachel Levine during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 25, 2021.Tom Brenner/Reuters/Bloomberg—Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Aug 3, 2022 4:00 PM UTC The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is calling for a new Office of Long COVID Research and Practice to direct an “all-hands-on-deck, whole-of-government approach” to [researching Long COVID](https://time.com/6153259/what-causes-long-covid/)—a condition marked by long-term symptoms following a case of COVID-19—and supporting those who have it, according to [a Long COVID research action plan](https://www.covid.gov/longcovid) released Aug. 3 by the Biden Administration. “Long after the more immediate effects of the pandemic, the long-term impacts on the health of the nation will continue for years to come,” the report reads. The [report](https://www.covid.gov/assets/files/National-Research-Action-Plan-on-Long-COVID-08012022.pdf) does not formally establish an Office of Long COVID Research and Practice, which “will need resources and staffing.” Rather, it recommends the formation of such an office as part of a broad plan to better understand and respond to Long COVID. [A report accompanying the research plan](https://www.covid.gov/longcovid) lays out federal resources currently available to people who have Long COVID—including financial, employment, and [caregiving support](https://time.com/5946101/long-covid-caregivers/)—as well as guidance for health care professionals caring for Long COVID patients. The reports were [commissioned in April by President Joe Biden](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/04/05/fact-sheet-the-biden-administration-accelerates-whole-of-government-effort-to-prevent-detect-and-treat-long-covid/). --- ### More from TIME --- One in five U.S. adults with a known prior case of COVID-19 currently [has symptoms of Long COVID](https://time.com/6190112/long-covid-prevalence-us/), according to recent data from the National Center for Health Statistics. These symptoms can include fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, chronic pain, neurologic issues, organ damage, and many others. For some people, they are disabling. According to [one recent estimate](https://www.npr.org/2022/07/31/1114375163/long-covid-longhaulers-disability-labor-ada), 4 million people in the U.S. are currently [out of work because of Long COVID](https://time.com/6160010/long-covid-patients-back-to-work/). **Read More**: [_You Could Have Long COVID and Not Even Know It_](https://time.com/6191655/long-covid-under-diagnosed/) The research action plan details the Biden Administration’s scientific priorities related to Long COVID, including better understanding the condition’s prevalence, risk factors, and potential treatments and preventive measures. It also calls for more research into whether the condition has various “subtypes” that may require different treatments. While [some people get better with time](https://time.com/6072264/long-covid-recovery/), there is no known cure for Long COVID. Some Long COVID treatment centers have popped up across the country, but they [haven’t been enough to meet patient demand](https://time.com/6144427/long-covid-treatments-health-care-wait/). The new report recommends establishing “Long COVID Centers of Excellence” that, along with primary care physicians, could provide care based on the latest research. The research plan also calls for a better understanding of how Long COVID affects different groups of people, including children and adults who are economically disadvantaged, from minoritized backgrounds, or living in rural areas. In late 2020, Congress gave the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) [more than $1 billion to study Long COVID](https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/who-we-are/nih-director/statements/nih-launches-new-initiative-study-long-covid). But the NIH’s hallmark effort, a multi-site study called [RECOVER](https://recovercovid.org/), has so far enrolled only about 7,000 of its desired 40,000 participants, drawing criticism from many Long COVID patients and advocates. [Even NIH officials have acknowledged](https://www.statnews.com/2022/03/29/nih-long-covid-sluggish-study/) that it took too long to get the enrollment process off the ground within the slow-moving federal research system. Additional funding will be necessary moving forward in order to make these efforts happen, according to the HHS report. In a statement, HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Rachel Levine stresses that the reports are only the beginning of the administration’s Long COVID efforts. “These initial reports are an important step as HHS continues to accelerate research and programmatic support to address the consequences of the pandemic and work across sectors to ensure no one is left behind as we continue to build a healthier future,” she said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6203133/biden-administration-long-covid-research/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6203133/biden-administration-long-covid-research/"},"headline":"Biden Administration Calls for an 'All-Hands-on-Deck' Effort to Study Long COVID","datePublished":"2022-08-03T16:00:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T14:34:45.760Z","description":"The Administration detailed Long COVID priorities in a pair of reports released Aug. 3.","url":"https://time.com/6203133/biden-administration-long-covid-research/","keywords":["COVID-19","healthscienceclimate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95f502431f38b61b/698a344e096a940d596acd34/rachel-levine.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95f502431f38b61b/698a344e096a940d596acd34/rachel-levine.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rachel Levine","caption":"Rachel Levine","creditText":"Tom Brenner/Reuters/Bloomberg—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/covid-19/","name":"COVID-19"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6203133/biden-administration-long-covid-research/","name":"Biden Administration Calls for an 'All-Hands-on-Deck' Effort to Study Long COVID"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Amid China's Protests, Nancy Pelosi Says the U.S. Will Not Abandon Taiwan","description":"U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meeting leaders in Taiwan despite warnings from China, said Wednesday that she and other members of Congress in a visiting delegation are showing they will not abandon their commitment to the self-governing island.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/U6oYPKam/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2022-08-03T09:33:12.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/U6oYPKam.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6203133/biden-administration-long-covid-research/","duration":"PT1M11S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6203133/biden-administration-long-covid-research/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```