The COVID-19 vaccine may provide protection against symptomatic infection, severe illness and death, but it does not prevent the transmission of the novel coronavirus. Even fully vaccinated people are still at risk of catching the infectious disease that’s been ravaging the world since late 2019.

A study published in the infectious disease and epidemiology journal Eurosurveillance discussed the most common symptoms affecting fully vaccinated individuals after being exposed to SARS-CoV-2. It focused on the attendees of a Nov. 26, 2021 party where an omicron outbreak transpired.

Researchers in Norway interviewed 111 guests of the 117 individuals who showed up at the closed event. Of the interviewed attendees, 66 had definitive COVID, while 15 had possible transmission.

All of the guests were reported to be fully vaccinated and had been asked to present a rapid antigen self-test result by the organizers. For other people visiting the venue and the employees of the restaurant, there were no requirements for vaccination.

Of the 111 participants, 89% had received the two-dose preparations of mRNA vaccines, but none of them had received a booster shot. The respondents had an average age of 39 years, and none of them had contracted the disease in the previous four months before the event.

After interviewing the group of fully vaccinated partygoers, the researchers listed the most common symptoms they experienced after the outbreak. The list included persistent cough, runny nose, fatigue, sore throat, headache, fever, sneezing and muscle pain.

Based on their findings, coughs, runny nose and fatigue were among the most commonly reported symptoms of fully vaccinated individuals. On the other hand, sneezing and fever were the least common symptoms.

Aside from the eight listed by the researchers in their study, public health experts also singled out nausea as another symptom common among fully vaccinated people who contract the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, as per the Independent.

The nine symptoms of omicron in the fully vaccinated are mild in nature. However, this is what makes it hard for people to distinguish pre-vaccination COVID-19 from a common cold.

Zoe Health Study’s Tim Spector, a professor of epidemiology at King’s College London, claimed that around 50% of “new colds” are actually COVID.

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