At the start of the pandemic, there was an overwhelming sense that once there were vaccines, you’d be less likely to die from COVID-19 and the risk would all but go away. Then came long COVID.

According to one estimate, between 7 million and 23 million people in the United States have developed long COVID. That means that weeks or even months after an initial infection, they’re still suffering from a wide range of debilitating symptoms including shortness of breath, brain fog and heart palpitations.

And, in some cases, symptoms are so severe, people have left their jobs. So is our economy prepared?

“If you think about the way that our country manages disability, probably no,” said Jessica Malaty Rivera, an epidemiologist and senior adviser at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Pandemic Prevention Institute. “We can barely get our disability to work for people who are pregnant and having children. So I can’t imagine that it’s going to be very accommodating to those who are experiencing long COVID.”

On the show today, we’ll talk with Malaty Rivera about the health and socioeconomic effects of long COVID.

In the Newsfix, we’ve got a quick and dirty explainer on the bond yield curve and why it’s all over the news today. Plus, we’ll hear from listeners about the Farmers’ Almanac’s weather predictions and the Oscars, and a veterinarian shares a surprising answer to the Make Me Smart question.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• “Is ‘long Covid’ worsening the labor shortage?” from the Brookings Institution
• “Evidence grows that vaccines lower the risk of getting long COVID” from NPR
• “NIH’s sluggish efforts to study long Covid draw patient, researcher ire” from STAT
• “Stock Futures Edge Up, Bond Yields Inch Closer to Recession Warning” from The Wall Street Journal
• “Covid-19 Coverage for the Uninsured Is Ending” from The Nation
• ICYMI: “Make Me Smart’s” Cherry Blossom party