Five years after the start of the pandemic, millions of people are still suffering from long term effects of the virus in what experts have termed long Covid.

It's estimated that 17 million adults in the U.S. have it, and the majority say it's had significant limitations on their daily lives.

What's worse, the research shows the disease is affecting many groups of people already considered vulnerable with limited access to health care.

Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports.

Remember, five years ago, with Covid patients crowding i.c.u.s in the pandemic's early days, nobody really knew what to expect back then.

Locals cheered first responders and medical workers in Manhattan each night.

At Mount Sinai Hospital, a new Jersey nurse shared some pizza with coworkers, but they also unwittingly shared the Covid virus.

Aliza Parver says she got sick in March 2020 and even months later, needed a doctor's note, citing ongoing Covid symptoms that made her not fit yet to return to work.

To this day, she suffers from long Covid.

It's a rollercoaster and I still have ups and downs for the last five years.

Sometimes it's demoralizing.

And it's it's definitely.

Frustrating.

Most of the cases, particularly the more severe cases of long Covid, were really seen from the people who developed Covid in that first wave ride, that wild wave, we had no immunity to it.

There were no vaccines available and there were no really good treatments.

But Montclair epidemiologist Stephanie Silvera says even patients with mild Covid symptoms sometimes develop long Covid.

A study last December noted about 8% of American adults surveyed 20 million people reported Covid symptoms lasting longer than three months after they were infected.

Many complained it limited their activities.

A lot of people who were impacted were 35 to 45.

That's a lot of life left for them to live with.

What really is going to be a long term disability.

We're trying to figure out what's going to work best for them and how we can support the best.

It's very challenging to determine, you know, who should qualify for disability, who's not able to return to work?

Dr. Jonathan Shammash heads Hackensack Meridian Covid 19 recovery Center, PA, VA, a Bergen County Mom of three enroll there in August 2020.

It helped her return to work at Mount Sinai, but with adjustments to deal with her lingering fatigue.

My coworkers are I they understand.

I mean, nurses in general need breaks and and sometimes the day is long and the day is hard and it's heavy.

And you just sometimes say, I need a little.

I need half an hour.

And they're good with that.

Fortunately, she's been able to make that arrangement and have that, you know, have the support from her colleagues to get to, to be productive and to do the good work that she does.

So, you know, that's a challenge.

There's currently no real cure for long Covid, and it remains an elusive diagnosis.

Doctor Shamash says the center often sees patients who've run out of options after hitting a wall with frustrated medical providers.

And they basically dismiss the patients or tell the patient, you know, I'm not comfortable, you know, sending out this disability form because I'm not really sure that you're disabled.

And then they come to us because they remain limited.

You know, they have impediments to being able to be productive and do the work they used to do.

Most folks do eventually recover from Covid.

CDC data show more than 87% of Americans have antibodies indicating previous Covid infections, and vaccination rates have certainly dropped.

But Silvera warns the idea that once you have Covid, oh well, I should have some protection.

The data seems to indicate that the more you have Covid, the more susceptible you are because it's actually degrading your immune system every time you get it.

So there's so much more that we need to learn, and I don't think that any of it's going to be good news.

Unfortunately.

Even getting a cold now can trigger a flare up for her.

She advises if you do have long Covid, don't settle.

Find yourself health care provider.

That will help you.

And she does recommend vaccinations.

I'm Brenda Flanagan, NJ Spotlight News.