DAILY Covid cases have soared by 85 per cent in vaccinated Brits in one week, data reveals.
Around 11,000 people are falling sick with the virus each day compared with 6,000 a week ago, according to the ZOE Covid Symptom Study.
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Even though the jabs are highly effective at preventing serious illness and death, you can still catch the virus.
The infection tends to be more mild and cause symptoms that are not the same as the official NHS list.
Covid in fully vaccinated people tends to cause a headache, runny nose, sore throat, sneezing and loss of smell.
Therefore the typical fever and persistent cough are uncommonly experienced by those with jabs.
Tim Spector OBE, lead scientist on the ZOE COVID Study app and Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College London, said: “It's more important than ever to realise this ranking because the pandemic is absolutely not over and lots of people are still getting infected.
“We need to move away from the 18-month-old idea that this is just a fever, cough and loss of smell.”
He added: “It seems unlikely that the government is going to change the official list anytime soon, so we are calling on people to spread the word.
“If you or anyone in your household feels ill, do a lateral flow test and if you test positive, confirm it with a PCR test. It’s simple, if you feel ill, take a test.”
Covid symptoms depending on vaccine status
The ZOE Covid Symptom Study app is currently seeing in the app data:
Two doses:
- Headache
- Runny nose
- Sore throat
- Sneezing
- Loss of smell
One dose:
- Headache
- Runny nose
- Sore throat
- Sneezing
- Persistent cough
Unvaccinated:
- Headache
- Sore throat
- Runny Nose
- Fever
- Persistent cough
Unjabbed most at risk
The sharp rise in vaccinated Brits getting Covid comes amid the third wave, mostly impacting unvaccinated groups.
Almost 22,7000 people without a vaccine are reporting symptoms each day – 17 per cent up on the 19,200 last week.
The figure has been rising the end of May when the super infectious Delta Covid variant took hold in the UK.
Prof Spector warned London vaccination rates were “worrying low” considering how densely populated it is.
He also the Euros is likely to be contributing to cases, and advised watching matches outdoors or at least in a well-ventilated indoor area.
“The ZOE data continues to show that the number of new cases are rising. UK rates are among the highest in the world, out-pacing the USA, Australia, Italy, France and Spain.” Prof Spector said.
“While the rate of increase seems to be slowing down, we’re yet to reach the peak of this latest wave. Even though we’re doing away with COVID restrictions in the UK, COVID isn’t done with us.”
But he said he was generally in favour of lifting the remaining restrictions on July 19.
“We need to recognise that we can’t get covid wn to zero, this is a new era, we are in it for the long haul and we’ll gonna have low levels of disease for a long time,” he said.
“This is in a way a mark that this is happening, and we have to try and get back to life as normal.”
The cost of lifting of restrictions – which is predicted to see cases soar even more – is hundreds of thousands of more long Covid, experts say.
Long Covid causes persistent symptoms such as fatigue, headaches and muscle pain for up to months after the virus has been cleared by the body.
Currently around one million people are suffering in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics.
For the first time, the ZOE study predicted how many cases could be expected moving forward.
It said an estimated 500 unvaccinated people a day will be falling into the category of “long Covid” – persistent symptoms for more than three months that affect daily activities.
On top is an extra 200 people who are vaccinated, Prof Spector warned.
The figure could reach 1,000 per day if new daily infections reach 50,000, as predicted by ministers and scientists alike.
A separate study published today has predicted that a staggering 100,000 new daily cases could be reported just before England unlocks on July 19.
That’s based on the REACT study showing cases have surged four-fold in England since June and are doubling every six days.
Around one in 170 people are testing positive for the virus now, the study found.
The study showed 0.35 per cent of double-jabbed under-65s are testing positive compared to 1.15 per cent of those without a vaccine – showing 70 per cent protection.
But Prof Steven Riley added: “Even though the vaccine is effective, it's a fantastic vaccine but it's not a perfect vaccines, the proportion of people from round 12 to 13 that are vaccinated that are testing positive is increasing.
"We are not seeing the absence of infection in the vaccinated group, we are seeing growth."
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