Most common Covid symptoms hitting double-jabbed Brits revealed – and they’re NOT the official 3
THE most common symptoms of Covid are different in people who are vaccinated.
With almost a third of infections now in people who have gotten two doses, it’s vital you know the signs.
The jabs are not 100 per cent effective at preventing Covid, which is why people will continue to get sick, and die, of the disease.
The proportion of people with the virus who are vaccinated will also be higher as a natural result of more people getting jabbed, amid high Covid circulation.
Professor Tim Spector, an epidemiologist at King’s College London, said: “According to data from the ZOE COVID Study, fully vaccinated people now make up nearly 30 per cent of positive cases.
“So it’s critical to be aware of the symptoms of Covid after vaccination.
“Our data shows post-vaccination infections are much more like a cold than the flu, with the top symptoms being runny nose, headache, sneezing, sore throat and loss of smell.
“We’re again calling on the government to add these cold-like symptoms to their list to help educate the public and catch more cases.”
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The NHS main symptom list, which warrants a free Covid test, only includes a high temperature, loss of taste and smell and new cough.
But the ZOE Covid Symptom Study app, of which Prof Spector is the lead researcher, people are more commonly suffering headaches, sore throats, and runny noses, normally combined and not as a singular symptom.
Its data relies on app users reporting their symptoms when they test positive for the disease and is just one way scientists are tracking the outbreak.
Experts have previously suggested why vaccinated people are showing different symptoms.
Symptoms of Covid in fully vaccinated people
Top symptoms in fully vaccinated people
Runny nose: 75 per cent
Headache: 73 per cent
Sneezing: 67 per cent
Sore throat: 53 per cent
Loss of smell: 51 per cent
People with allergies sneeze because the germs quickly activate their immune system.
It is therefore theorised those whose immune systems are “primed” against Covid due to vaccination may react in the same way, having cold or allergy-type symptoms.
Sneezing “without an explanation” could also be the result of allergies or a common cold.
But its recommended to get a Covid test, although not by the NHS who only offer tests to those with the three main symptoms.
If you are feeling under the weather, “try to cover all coughs and sneezes with tissue or inside your elbow”, Prof Spector has warned.
He claimed that it’s “highly likely” your symptoms are caused by the coronavirus because right now, there are not many viruses in circulation among adults.
He added: “If someone coughs in your face and says, ‘don't worry, I’ve been double-jabbed’, tell them absolutely you should worry and you shouldn't do that, because sneezing and cold-like symptoms are a reality, and many people have them.”
The study this week also revealed that almost 52,000 people are picking up symptomatic Covid each day in the UK, which does not include those without symptoms.
The figure is up 19 per cent on the week before, meaning cases are on the rise once again after a dip in mid-July.
Vaccine effectiveness waning
It comes after the ZOE study this week warned vaccine immunity was waning, particularly in those who first had their jab.
The team said the Pfizer vaccine is 88 per cent effective a month after the second dose, but this drops to 74 per cent after five or six months.
Meanwhile, the AstraZeneca vaccine is 77 per cent effective a month after the second dose, reducing to 67 per cent at five months.
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It means those who got their jabs first - the most vulnerable in society - may have much lower protection now and going into the autumn.