Delta variant is the latest threat brought by the pandemic, causing oubreaks all over the world. While it is considered more severe and infectious than earlier variants, researchers now look into its symptoms in order to determine whether there are any differences compared to earlier variants. Moreover, scientists are also looking at the difference between unvaccinated and vaccinated people when it comes to experiencing the virus.
Breakthrough infections (COVID-19 infections that take place after taking the vaccine) are not uncommon, although almost none of them are severe. What is interesting to observe is that those infected have described symptoms that are different from those of the very first Coronavirus waves.
As it turns out, most vaccinated people who contract COVID report symptoms similar to those of a regular cold. Having a runny nose is very common, along with other symptoms such as a sore throat, sneezing. Compared to the symptoms of the earlier COVID waves, researchers observed that shortness of breath and coughing were no longer reported, despite being very common before vaccines. Moreover, pre-vaccine symptoms did not usually include a runny nose and sneezing.
“In terms of the symptoms that we see that are different between vaccinated versus unvaccinated individuals, the symptoms really remained the same. We’re still looking at initially cold-type symptoms like cough and fever. And people who have more severe infections, pneumonia-type infection symptoms,” explained Dr. Jack O’Horo, from the Mayo Clinic.
The good news is that vaccinated people are very unlikely to have a severe breakthrough infection. This means that even if you become infected after getting the vaccine, you won’t require hospitalization and your symptoms will probably be mild. However, people with weakened immune systems have to continue to take extra precautionary measures, as the vaccines might not provide all the protection they require.
