How Omicron symptoms differ from Delta and past coronavirus variants

2 charts show how Omicron symptoms differ from Delta and past coronavirus variants Vaccinated people with Omicron reported more sore throats and runny noses, but fewer instances of fever, cough, and loss of taste or smell. YahooNews

• Sore throats and runny noses are increasingly common in vaccinated people with Omicron.

• But Omicron patients report fewer instances of fever, cough, and loss of taste or smell.

• The charts below show which Omicron symptoms are most common and how they compare to prior variants.

Almost as soon as Omicron started spreading, doctors noticed slight differences in their patients' symptoms relative to prior variants. Mild, coldlike symptoms — such as sore throats, sneezing, and runny noses — were increasingly common. But former hallmarks of COVID-19 — such as fevers, coughs, and loss of taste or smell — had dwindled.

"The most reported symptoms of Omicron are really very much like a cold, especially in people who've been vaccinated," Dr. Claire Steves, a scientist involved with the Zoe COVID Symptom Study, said in a recent video.

The Zoe study uses a smartphone app to log how hundreds of thousands of people are feeling every day across the UK. It offers a comprehensive look at how COVID-19 symptoms have changed over the course of the pandemic — most notably, with the advent of the Delta and Omicron variants. ...

Runny nose, headache, fatigue, sneezing, and sore throat were the top five symptoms among people in the UK who recorded a positive COVID-19 test in the past few weeks. Meanwhile, 44% of people in that group reported a persistent cough, and 29% reported a fever. Loss of taste or smell was even less common, as the chart below shows.

While the data doesn't distinguish between vaccinated and unvaccinated people, 70% of the UK population has had at least two vaccine doses as of Thursday.  ...