Coronavirus symptoms: Signs in vaccinated people they have caught COVID

With the new emerging variants posing a serious threat to our lives, getting ourselves vaccinated against the coronavirus infection is extremely important. But given the rising numbers of breakthrough infections, those who have already taken their COVID shot should continue to remain cautious as they too can contract the deadly virus.

However, the risk of infection in double-jabbed people and those who are yet to receive their vaccines differ greatly. Whether in terms of impact, severity or mortality risk, vaccinated people are more protected than the unvaccinated, as per experts.

Given the emergence of new mutant viruses, the effectiveness of the vaccines is said to have diminished over time. While the existing vaccines were initially developed in respect to the original SARs-COV-2 virus, the new variants are said to have the ability to escape the vaccine-induced immunity, making even the fully vaccinated susceptible to infections.

That being said, a breakthrough infection occurs when a person contracts COVID-19 even after receiving both doses of COVID vaccines. He or she either remains asymptomatic or develops mild to moderate symptoms. In certain cases the individual can even succumb to the virus. The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) claims that although there have been instances of breakthrough infections, it is rare and infected people are less likely to be sick.

Read more: Coronavirus: Can fully vaccinated people contract Delta variant, be asymptomatic and become carriers? Here’s everything you need to know

As we all know by now, COVID vaccines help to provide a certain amount of immunity to people against the coronavirus infection. Although vaccinated people can still contract the virus, vaccines can assist in reducing the risk of severe illnesses and hospitalization. Apart from that it can also minimize the risk of transmission from one person to another.

However, it is important to note that COVID symptoms in fully vaccinated individuals may be different than that in unvaccinated individuals. According to a study conducted by the UK-based Zoe Symptom Study app, which routinely looks into symptoms in different groups of people, found certain signs of COVID in people who have been vaccinated.

- Headache

- Runny nose

- Sneezing

- Sore throat

- Loss of smell

Read more: Coronavirus: Can fully vaccinated people develop long COVID?

According to CDC, it is very rare for fully vaccinated individuals to experience severe symptoms from COVID-19. People who have received both doses of the vaccine are less likely to be hospitalized or die than those who haven't been vaccinated, as per the health body. However, they have clarified that fully vaccinated people can still experience severe infections, be hospitalized and die.

A recent study conducted by a team of researchers at China's Guangdong Provincial Center of Disease Control and Prevention has suggested that transmission of SARs-COV-2 virus depends on the amount of viral load a person has in his or her system.

Given that the vaccines can weaken and reduce the level of viral load in a person, it is less likely that vaccinated individuals can become silent carriers. While the rising cases of Delta variant only make fully vaccinated individuals more vulnerable to the virus, experts believe it is rare for them to spread the virus due to the lower viral content in their body.

Although unvaccinated individuals need to be more careful, fully vaccinated individuals should continue taking all the precautionary measures. Besides maintaining social distancing, wearing masks is also an important measure to take.

Read more: Vaccinated people less likely to spread COVID: Study

The recent COVID guidelines provided by the US CDC recommends fully vaccinated people to mask up even indoors. Officials say that it is the only "temporary measure". This only highlights the prevalence of the Delta variant in and around the world and how serious COVID crisis is.