More than 79 million vaccines have so far been administered across the UK, including almost 34 million second doses.

This means that more than 82% of the population has built up some protection against Covid, while more than 64% are fully inoculated.

As the vaccine rollout continues at speed, health experts and scientists have shared encouraging findings that show vaccinations have interrupted the link between infection and serious illness and death.

Although two doses of the vaccine provide a high level of immunity against Covid infection, a small number of people may still catch the virus.

According to the latest research by the ZOE Covid Symptom Study, those who have been double-jabbed and caught the virus afterwards, presented different symptoms to those who had not been fully vaccinated.

In most cases, the infection is likely to be less severe in those who have received two vaccines.

The NHS lists a high temperature, a new continuous cough, and a loss or change to sense of smell or taste as the most common symptoms of Covid among those who have not had the vaccine.

ZOE researchers found that for those who are double-vaccinated, the most common symptoms of infection are:

The report said: ‘Generally, we saw similar symptoms of Covid-19 being reported overall in the app by people who had and hadn’t been vaccinated.

‘However, fewer symptoms were reported over a shorter period of time by those who had already had a jab, suggesting that they were falling less seriously ill and getting better more quickly.’

‘Curiously, we noticed that people who had been vaccinated and then tested positive for COVID-19 were more likely to report sneezing as a symptom compared with those without a jab,’ it added.

Meanwhile, for those who have received one jab and catch the virus afterwards, the rankings of most common symptoms differ slightly, with the most common being:

Researchers added: ‘After the protection from only once vaccine, one of the original indicators of a persistent cough has made the top 5 symptoms, but still comes below sneezing and a runny nose in rankings, which were previously thought to be unrelated to infection.’

Researchers urged anyone who is experiencing sneezing after getting the jab to get tested to make sure they have not caught the virus.

It usually takes around two weeks to build up immunity after receiving the second dose, so it is possible a person could get infected shortly before or after getting jabbed.

The latest PHE figures suggest that those who have received one dose of the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines will have around 50% protection against symptomatic illness caused by the Alpha variant first identified in Kent.

However, for the Delta variant, first reported in India, that figure drops to 30% for a single dose of AstraZeneca’s jab and 36% for Pfizer’s.

But two doses provide just short of full protection, with two Pfizer jabs offering 96% protection against hospitalisation for the Delta variant and 92% for AstraZeneca’s.

Though the jabs provide a high level of protection, the Government guidance reminds the public that ‘like all medicines, no vaccine is completely effective’ and urges people to continue practicing good hygiene and social distancing.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Source: Read Full Article