Covid-19 cases in the UK are currently on the rise and experts continue to preach caution against complacency towards the disease as we prepare for the festive celebrations over coming days.
Older people in particular are under threat of reinfection, increasing calls from public health experts for booster jab takeups as winter approaches and the number of new immuno-evasive subvariants increase.
There are also concerns that a devastating flu season could conspire with rising coronavirus case numbers to create a dangerous “twindemic”.
According to findings by the Covid ZOE app, which surveys common symptoms among UK coronavirus sufferers, there are five signs of infection most common in fully-vaccinated people, an overview of which follows.
Most common symptoms for the fully vaccinated
According to Covid ZOE app, similar Covid symptoms have been reported of late by people who have and have not been vaccinated against the virus, but fewer symptoms were reported over a shorter period of time by those who had recently had a jab, suggesting they are falling less seriously ill and recovering faster.
The most common symptom after two vaccinations proved to be a runny nose.
This is a symptom often overlooked and dimissed as nothing more than the sign of the common cold but, according to the ZOE app, it is best to get tested if this common side effect occurs.
Next on the list of the most common symptoms among vaccinated Covid sufferers is headaches.
This is followed by sneezing, sore throats and, lastly, a persistent cough, which was previously considered a leading symptom when the pandemic began in 2020.
The other “traditional” symptoms, as still outlined on the UK government’s website, such as anosmia (loss of smell), shortness of breath and fever, now rank way down ZOE’s list of the most commonly reported, the app said.
A persistent cough now ranks at number five among people with two vaccine doses, for instance, so is no longer the top indicator of having Covid.
People who had been vaccinated and subsequently test positive for Covid were more likely to report sneezing as a symptom, compared with those without a jab.
Professor Azeem Majeed, head of Public Health at Imperial College London, has said previously vaccination will be “essential” to get through the winter period.
“There is a concern around ‘twindemic’, the last two winters we've seen high rates of Covid due to Omicron so it’s likely we'll see the same from Covid again,” Professor Majeed told The Independent.
“At the same time flu rates have been quite low for the last few years because of all the measures brought in like face masks [and] home working, so we were quite fortunate but this winter we'll have normal social activities, people will be mixing much more so there's a chance they'll be high rates of flu.”
Professor Majeed urged people to get tested if they experience any Covid symptoms but conceded that the government has made this more difficult since it stopped providing free test kits.
He warned that increasing public health warnings during the winter seasons could help avoid the soaring case numbers that would lead to another Covid wave.
