The omicron variant continues to surge throughout the United States, hitting both unvaccinated and vaccinated people alike. But the omicron variant symptoms might not always be the same.
Why it matters: As the omicron variant continues to run through the country, it’s important for people to know what symptoms to expect if they become infected.
What to know: The biggest difference in omicron variant symptoms between unvaccinated and fully vaccinated individuals comes down to severity, according to Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco.
- “There is little systematic data so far, but I expect that many vaccinated and especially boosted folks are experiencing very mild symptoms and there is a higher proportion of vaccinated folks who have no symptoms,” he said, per KSN.com.
- Vaccinated people often experience omicron variant symptoms for a less amount of time, too, Chin-Hong said.
- Those who are fully vaccinated will have symptoms for one or two days, whereas unvaccinated will see symptoms for five or more days.
Yes, but: It’s important to remember that having “mild” COVID-19 symptoms doesn’t mean your experience will be a walk in the park, as I reported for the Deseret News.
- “The big question is whether or not you’re able to recuperate at home,” Carl Lambert Jr., a Chicago-based family physician, told HuffPost.
- “Mild is not always so mild,” said Dr. William Schaffer, a professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University and medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Disease, told ABC News.
- “If you’re not sick enough to go to the hospital, there is a tendency to fill some of those (daily) roles,” he added.