Some four years after the beginning of the Covid pandemic some 10,000 Long Covid sufferers are living on benefits because they are unable to work or work fulltime, figures from state benefits agency UWV have shown.

The cost associated with the benefits is some €200 million a year and, in the absence of a cure for Long Covid, this is likely to become a structural expense, insurance doctor and lawyer Jim Faas told the Volkskrant.

Some 9,746 people are on invalidity benefit because of complications following an infection while another 1,246 have health problems associated with Long Covid but are also suffering from another illness.

The figures show how invisible the problem is, Alfons Olde Loohuis of post Covid support organisation C-support told the paper. “I know young people who have been bedridden for four years. They don’t feel heard or seen. They have a mysterious disease which doctors can’t cure,” he said.

On Friday, three post Covid centres will open their doors at teaching hospitals in Maastricht, Amsterdam and Rotterdam to measure the effect of existing medication such as anti-allergy medication, anti-depressants and béta blockers which may alleviate symptoms.

Some 32,000 Long Covid patients have been registered so far and some 300 are registering every month, Olde Loohuis said.

The most severe cases date from the first wave of infections before vaccination but people are still getting Long Covid, often after a mild infection with the virus.

Recent American research quoted by the paper has shown that the risk of contracting Long Covid has halved, not only because the virus has become less virulent but also because of the efficacy of the vaccines.

Most people have built up immunity, because of an infection or as a result of vaccination but this immunity is not lasting and not particularly strong, virologist Marion Koopmans warned. That means an infection will always carry a risk of Long Covid, she said, although these may remain under the radar because not everyone is aware they had the infection.

The health council has decided vaccination is now only recommended for people over 60 and those with an underlying health problem. Testing and isolation have also been scrapped.

Olde Loohuis said he understood the decision but said it suggested that Covid is no longer a threat. “The message should be: be warned. And take the appropriate measures if you do get infected,” he said.