More than six weeks after it started, Hipps still experiences the burning sensation every day, as well as tingling and numbness in her hands too.

Sometimes the numbness is so bad she can’t push her baby’s stroller. Her periods are really heavy too. And work tires her out so fast now she has to take lots of breaks.

“I’m really scared. I mean I’m really scared that there are things that are going on with me that I’m going to have to deal with for the rest of my life,” Hipps says.

Now it’s really important to stress that the COVID-19 vaccines are still highly effective at protecting people from getting really sick or dying, and are still quite good at keeping most people from even catching the virus or getting mildly ill.

But breakthrough infections can happen, especially with the delta variant. And it’s becoming increasingly clear that unvaccinated people can develop long COVID symptoms, even from mild cases.