Relative to my earlier estimate with Lawrence Summers of the cost of long COVID of $2.6 trillion, the higher number here is higher: $3.7 trillion in total. The higher estimate is largely a result of the greater prevalence of long COVID than we had guessed at the time. There are about 10 times the number of people with long COVID as have died of COVID. Because long COVID is so new, there is uncertainty about all of the numbers involved in the calculations. Still, the costs here are conservative, based on only cases to date. The enormity of these costs implies that policy to address long COVID are urgently needed. With costs this high, virtually any amount spent on long COVID detection, treatment, and control would result in benefits far above what it costs.
Read the full text here: https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/cutler/files/long_covid_update_7-22.pdf
Note: See The COVID-19 Pandemic and the $16 Trillion Virus for background.
Source: David M. Cutler. The Economic Cost of Long COVID: An Update. Harvard University.