How to tell if you’ve got a case of Breakthrough COVID

Two weeks after your second COVID-19 vaccine dose, the protective effects of vaccination will be at their highest. At this point, you’re fully vaccinated. After this point, if you still get COVID-19, most likely due to a new variant like Delta or Mu, you’ve suffered a “breakthrough” infection. Broadly speaking, breakthrough infections are similar to regular COVID-19 infections in unvaccinated people – but there are some differences. Here is what to look out for if you’ve had both jabs.

According to the COVID Symptom Study, the five most common symptoms of a breakthrough infection are a headache, a runny nose, sneezing, a sore throat and loss of smell. Some of these are the same symptoms that people who haven’t had a vaccine experience. If you haven’t been vaccinated, three of the most common symptoms are also a headache, sore throat and runny nose.

However, the two other most common symptoms in the unvaccinated are fever and a persistent cough. These two “classic” COVID-19 symptoms become much less common once you’ve had your jabs. One study has found that people with breakthrough infections are 58% less likely to have a fever compared with unvaccinated people. Rather, COVID-19 after vaccination has been described as feeling like a head cold for many.

Vaccinated people are also less likely than unvaccinated people to be hospitalized if they develop COVID-19. They’re also likely to have fewer symptoms during the initial stages of the illness and are less likely to develop long COVID. The reasons for the disease being milder in vaccinated people could be because vaccines, if they don’t block infection, seem to lead to infected people having fewer virus particles in their body. However, this has yet to be confirmed.

So, vaccines still vastly reduce your chances of getting COVID-19. Even more important, even if you were to get a breakthrough infection, they protect against the kind of severe infection that results in hospitalization and death.

However, it’s concerning seeing breakthrough infections, and the worry is that they might increase if vaccine protection does, as suspected, fall over time. Because of this, the CDC recommends getting a booster shot this Fall.

HHS announced a plan to begin offering COVID-19 vaccine booster shots this fall. CDC’s independent advisory committee, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, will continue to meet and discuss data on the evolution of the pandemic and the use of COVID-19 vaccines. ACIP will make further recommendations on the use of boosters for the public after a thorough review of the evidence.

And the U.S. is not the only one implementing boosters.  The current plan in the UK is to to give a booster dose to those most vulnerable, and is also considering whether boosters should be given more widely. Other countries, including France and Germany, are already planning on offering boosters to groups considered to be at higher risk from COVID-19. But even boosters end up being used, this shouldn’t be interpreted as vaccines not working. And in the meantime, it’s essential to promote vaccination to all those eligible who have not yet been vaccinated.

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