Omicron ‘breaking through vaccinated’ but symptoms are milder and cold-like

OMICRON is causing “breakthrough” infections in vaccinated people, data shows, but symptoms are milder.

Although a cold-like illness is better for the infected person, experts say it can make tracking the virus in the population harder.

People may not come forward for a test if they do not show the classic three Covid symptoms listed by the NHS - a cough, fever and loss of smell and/or taste.

It may also see hospitalisation rates sky-rocket as the virus spreads through both the vaccinated and unvaccinated.

However, case rates are still markedly lower among the vaccinated, making it the most efficient way to protect yourself from the virus.

It comes as the UK's Omicron hotspots were revealed for the first time.

The Government has pleaded with Brits to take their top-up dose invites as studies show it dramatically improves protection. 

The Sun's Jab's Army has called upon all Brits to come forward and have their life-saving shot, with volunteers also needed to drive the rollout.

According to the Zoe Covid Study, some 83,658 people are getting Covid symptoms every day, up from the 80,483 estimated last week.

The study estimates 25,411 of these are in vaccinated people, up from 24,926 last week.

ZOE said the number of daily new cases are rising in those under 55, but remain low in those over.

It suggests that boosters given to these age groups are working to give better protection against Delta, which is still the most dominant strain in the UK.

Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London and lead scientist on the Zoe study, said early signs "show that Omicron is breaking through in vaccinated people, but it’s causing milder cold-like symptoms".

“However, this is not a reason to be relaxed about Omicron.

“Covid is unpredictable and, even if most only feel like they’ve got a cold, there are far more long-term risks than a cold carries.”

Experts have said although some data indicate that Omicron is less severe than previous strains, it’s not certain.

Hospital rates are now growing in South Africa, where the variant was first spotted, with a 300 per cent increase in one week, according to England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty.

Boris Johnson said: “We can’t yet assume that Omicron is less severe than previous variants.

“So while the picture may get better, and I sincerely hope that it will, we know that the remorseless logic of exponential growth could lead to a big rise in hospitalisations and therefore, sadly, in deaths.”

Prof Spector and other experts have warned that a more mild disease does not remove the potential for a large wave of hospitalisations.

He said: “If numbers skyrocket, it doesn’t matter if the percentage of people being hospitalised or dying remain low – it’s about volume, not percentages.

“The higher rate of transmission even in the vaccinated could have devastating consequences, and hundreds of people continue to die every week as we head into our second Christmas of this pandemic.”

Prof Lawrence Young, Virologist and Professor of Molecular Oncology, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, said: “Even if Omicron infection turns out to be milder, as data from South Africa suggests, high transmission rates will still result in a large number of hospitalisations.  

“The hope is that these Plan B restrictions will give us some breathing space to continue at pace with the roll out of booster shots while attempting to quench the spread of the Omicron variant in the run up to Christmas.”

Prof Young said while vaccines do a lot of the “heavy lifting”, other tough rules are needed.

Last night Prime Minister Boris Johnson acted out of favour of dozens of Tory MPs and implemented more Covid restrictions.

Under the Plan B strategy, vaccine passports and working from home orders will be rolled out as of next week.

But MPs have blasted the sudden move given that hospital rates and deaths are currently low - two top measures of how to approach Covid.

Downing Street warned there could be “severe” consequences in terms of hospital admissions and deaths if the Plan B measures are not implemented.

Ahead of a Commons vote for the rules next week, the PM’s official spokesman said: “We think these are the right measures which will slow the growth. 

“I’m not going to comment on decisions or motivations when MPs are voting, that wouldn’t be for me.

“But I simply would make the point that we do know, and the advice that we have received, is without action – given the incredibly fast growth rate of this variant – the consequences, in terms of hospitalisations and deaths, could be severe.

“Given we know that boosters do provide a level of protection – and potentially a significant level of protection – it is only responsible to provide that extra time to get more people protected.”

The focus of the battle against Omicron is booster jabs, which are currently being given to anyone over 40, while invites are starting to be sent to those younger.

You can get a booster jab if it has been a minimum of three months since your second dose.