Sen. Kaine Introduces Bill to Research Long COVID After Revealing His Diagnosis

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) introduced a bill in the United States Senate this week after revealing his continued struggle with mild COVID symptoms.

Two years after contracting COVID-19.

As The Washington Post reports:

“I tell people it feels like all my nerves have had like five cups of coffee,” Kaine said Wednesday of his “24/7” tingling sensation, just after introducing legislation intended to expand understanding of long covid.

The Virginia Democrat is one of the thousands or even millions of Americans who could have long covid, the little-understood phenomenon in which symptoms linger for weeks or months after a coronavirus infection. There is no agreed-upon understanding of its root causes, or even its official name, making treatment of the long-term symptoms difficult — including for Kaine.

Older people and those with underlying health conditions are most likely to experience post-COVID-19 syndrome or “long COVID.” While organ damage is relatively well-documented in severe cases of COVID-19, many long-term COVID-19 effects remain unknown.

That’s why on Wednesday, Kaine joined Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) in introducing a bill to fund research into the long-term effects of the disease and expand treatment resources for people experiencing them.

The bill tracks with the pandemic road map President Biden released Wednesday, which calls for funding research into long covid. Kaine — a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee who has often asked federal health officials about long covid in hearings — said his office has been working on the legislation knowing the administration wants to prioritize the research.