Dispatches from a Pandemic: ‘Do I just suffer and hope things get better?’ COVID-19 long haulers face fears of reinfection, unvaccinated Americans and medical bills

Working at a grocery store during a pandemic is nerve-wracking enough. It’s even more stressful for a COVID-19 long hauler concerned with contracting a breakthrough infection and facing the financial fallout.

“That’s what I worry about: If I get it again, will it do me in where I can’t work?” said Robin Lagua, 52, of Edgewood, Wash., who works as a supermarket cashier and still deals with the effects of her relatively mild July 2020 infection. (Vaccination has been shown to reduce the risk of reinfection, and breakthrough…