Local advocates pushed America’s second largest city to formally observe the day on March 15
The city council of Los Angeles passed a resolution to recognize Long COVID Awareness Day on March 15. The resolution will also light the iconic City Hall teal, the symbolic color of awareness for the disease.
The city joins the state of California, which officially recognized Long COVID Awareness Day last year. Angelenos associated with various advocacy groups, including Clean Air LA, petitioned and helped organize a commendatory resolution for the city. Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez (Council District 13) introduced the resolution.
“This is over two years of work,” said advocate Sara Johnson, who spoke in support of the resolution at Tuesday’s city council meeting. “Long COVID advocates in Los Angeles have tried so many different things at county level, and this is the first success we’ve had.”
Advocates with Clean Air LA estimated 268,000 adults are affected by Long COVID in the city of Los Angeles, based on statistics from the Census and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Household Pulse Survey. The survey, which no longer asks respondents about Long COVID, found around 7% of U.S. adults were affected by Long COVID before the important federal survey was ended in fall 2024.
The awareness effort is an important step in demanding a proper policy response from the city around Long COVID, Nicholas Rodelo of Clean Air LA told The Sick Times. He said that the resolution will be meaningful not just for people currently affected by Long COVID, but those who will also develop it in the future.
“Today’s recognition of Long COVID Awareness Day is a long overdue first step to uplift the voices of Angelenos living with Long COVID and acknowledge the significant challenges they continue to face,” Councilmember Soto-Martínez said in a statement to The Sick Times.
“On March 15, when City Hall is lit in teal, I hope it serves as a reminder that we cannot leave behind Angelenos who are still living [with] and hurting due to Long COVID,” the councilmember said during Tuesday’s council meeting.
On March 15, when City Hall is lit in teal, I hope it serves as a reminder that we cannot leave behind Angelenos who are still living [with] and hurting due to Long COVID.
Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez
In addition to numerous public comments provided at the meeting, Clean Air LA organized a petition that collected nearly 400 signatures in support of the resolution. Many infection-associated disease, disability, and clean air advocacy groups co-sponsored the petition, including Clean Air Club, International Long COVID Awareness, #MEAction, Long COVID Foundation, Long COVID Justice, Mask Together America, and the Patient-Led Research Collaborative.
“This simple but powerful act would affirm the City’s commitment to public health and help bring much-needed visibility to a growing health crisis,” wrote Emily Taylor, CEO & President of the advocacy group Solve M.E., to the city council before Tuesday’s meeting.
Advocate Angela Laffin founded International Long COVID Awareness Day (ILCAD) in 2023 to educate the public about the disease affecting tens of millions of Americans and more than 400 million people worldwide. That year, with collaborative community input, ILCAD selected teal as the color of the awareness day and March 15 as the observation date. March is recognized as the awareness month.
People from around the world have since organized on March 15 to demonstrate, make demands, and light prominent landmarks, like Toronto’s CN Tower, in teal. Los Angeles’ City Hall will be illuminated in the color this year on the same day as the Academy Awards, which may increase awareness while the city is in the spotlight.
In March 2024, Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a national resolution to commemorate the awareness day and encourage expanded research efforts across the U.S., but like his $10 billion Long COVID Moonshot Act, it was not formally adopted.
Rodelo, who led the Los Angeles resolution, said that it was a “stepping stone” for continued advocacy in Los Angeles around Long COVID. He explained that the city has briefly acknowledged the disease in the past, but that city, county, and public health leaders have done little to support Angelenos with Long COVID.
Last summer, in collaboration with Los Angeles Public Press, The Sick Times reported that the city of Los Angeles was planning to reallocate leftover COVID-19 funds for building upgrades, instead of meeting the demands of Long COVID advocates who pointed out that the funds were intended for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, including supporting people with Long COVID.
“The language that we now have in [the resolution] will be something we can point back to in the future and really hold the city accountable,” Rodelo said. He encouraged advocates around the country to organize similar resolutions based on the LA resolution’s language in their cities and states.
Rodelo said that these resolutions for Long COVID Awareness Day can be accomplished by small groups of advocates, especially if they make the effort a small lift for lawmakers by helping draft resolutions. These resolutions, he said, often require little financial investment from cities and states, but can go a long way in recognizing and raising awareness about the disease.
Other national advocacy groups like the COVID-19 Longhauler Advocacy Project (C19LAP) have been heavily involved in Long COVID Awareness Day resolution advocacy efforts over the past few years. C19LAP is currently working with advocates around the country on events and implementing resolutions and light up events in various states and cities before Long COVID Awareness Day.
Another advocacy group, the Long COVID Foundation, has also worked to get notable buildings and structures illuminated for the day in an effort called “Lit for Long COVID.” According to the organization, there will be over 400 lightings for the awareness day in March 2026 across 18 countries. International Long COVID Awareness Day has a calendar of planned events for the upcoming awareness month, as well.
Back in Los Angeles, organizers with Clean Air LA and other organizing partners are planning an event on March 15 outside of City Hall at Gloria Molina Grand Park.
“We need to maintain and build this momentum through Long COVID Awareness Day,” said Johnson, who supported the Los Angeles resolution. “This [recognition] should be a springboard.”
We need to maintain and build this momentum through Long COVID Awareness Day. This [recognition] should be a springboard.
advocate Sara Johnson
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[…] Angeles’s city council also recently recognized Long COVID Awareness Day in a resolution passed on February 24. Other cities and states, from Vermont to Minnesota, have […]