Revealed: The 20 Most Common Covid Symptoms Among Vaccinated People

Cases may be down, but it's still doing the rounds.
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Sore throat, headache and a cough without phlegm are the three most common symptoms of Covid among vaccinated people in the UK right now. 

Data from the ZOE Health Study found a blocked nose, runny nose, a cough with phlegm, hoarse voice and sneezing were also common among sufferers.

Thankfully Covid cases are now down in England, Wales and Scotland, according to latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, with around one in 20 people now testing positive.

But that doesn’t mean the virus has gone away. We know that it has peaks and troughs throughout the year, so it’s still important to be aware of the symptoms. 

Here are 20 most common Covid symptoms among vaccinated people, according to data from ZOE:

  1. Sore throat

  2. Headache

  3. Cough without phlegm

  4. Blocked nose

  5. Runny nose

  6. Cough with phlegm

  7. Hoarse voice

  8. Sneezing

  9. Fatigue

  10. Muscle pains and aches

  11. Feeling dizzy or light headed

  12. Swollen neck glands

  13. Altered smell

  14. Fever

  15. Eye soreness

  16. Chest pain and/or tightness

  17. Loss of smell

  18. Shortness of breath

  19. Hot flushes

  20. Chills or shivers

Any cold-like symptoms should still be considered as potentially Covid, so it’s always worth testing if you feel rough and are planning on seeing someone vulnerable or are heading to work or a gathering. 

Those who experience shortness of breath as a symptom of Covid should get checked out, as Dr Dan Goyal, a consultant in internal medicine in NHS Highland, previously pointed out that this particular symptom is not a “normal” feature of the virus and can actually be quite serious.

“Shortness of breath indicates severe Covid (or worse) until proven otherwise,” he said. 

He suggested that silent hypoxia is an additional major concern, and “the most challenging part of Covid management”. This is when the oxygen in your blood is very low, but the patient is not aware of any related symptoms. Dr Goyal describes it as where the “lungs are inflamed but you don’t feel short of breath”.

To detect it, he recommended buying a pulse oximeter from your local pharmacist. This measures how much oxygen is in your blood.