What are some of the symptoms of the Omicron variant of COVID-19?

Apr 2022

COVID-19's Omicron variant behaves more like a common cold than previous manifestations of the coronavirus. Omicron can spread faster because it lingers in the nose and throat, but it appears to be less lethal than previous variants. Symptoms may also differ.

The most the common symptoms are:

According to research, the most common symptoms caused by Omicron are similar to those caused by other variants. These include:

cough
fever
congestion
runny nose
headache
sore throat
Muscle pain also seems to be common

This is not an exhaustive list. Children's symptoms are similar to those of adults, and they generally have a mild illness.

COVID-19 symptoms can range in severity from very mild to severe. Some people may only exhibit a few symptoms. Some people may not show any symptoms at all, but they can still spread it (asymptomatic transmission). Around a week after symptoms begin, some people may experience worsened symptoms, such as shortness of breath and pneumonia.

Some people have COVID-19 symptoms for up to four weeks after being diagnosed. These health problems are sometimes referred to as post-COVID-19 conditions. Several weeks after receiving COVID-19, some children develop the multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a syndrome that can affect various organs and tissues. Adults are occasionally affected by the syndrome.

People over the age of 65 are at a higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19, and the risk rises with age. People who already have medical conditions may be at a higher risk of serious illness. The following medical conditions may increase the risk of serious illness from COVID-19:

Heart failure, coronary artery disease, and cardiomyopathy are all serious heart diseases.
Cancer
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (COPD)
Diabetes type 1 or diabetes type 2
Obesity, whether mild or severe, is defined as being overweight.
Blood pressure is too high.
Smoking
Kidney disease that is chronic
Thalassemia, also known as sickle cell disease, is a type of blood disorder.
Immune system weakened as a result of solid organ transplants or bone marrow transplants
Pregnancy
Asthma
Cystic fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension are examples of chronic lung diseases.
Illness of the liver
Dementia
Down syndrome
Immune system weakened as a result of a bone marrow transplant, HIV, or certain medications
Strokes are examples of the brain and nervous system conditions.

Unvaccinated people have more severe symptoms.

People who have been vaccinated are more likely to experience Omicron as if it were a common cold. However, even with the typically milder Omicron variant, unvaccinated people and those with compromised immune systems are at a higher risk of developing serious illness from COVID-19. "Unvaccinated individuals... have more prolonged and severe symptoms, beginning with cold-like symptoms but progressing to severe respiratory symptoms, coughing, debilitating body aches and headaches, difficulty breathing, and — in severe cases — pneumonia, respiratory failure, and even death."

Will boosters be effective against Omicron?

With the Delta variant, we discovered that vaccination-induced immunity fades over time, but that a booster dose designed to target the original variant quickly restores protection against variants such as Beta and Delta.
"With a booster, we found better immune responses against those variants, even if it wasn't specifically targeting those variants," the researchers explain.

“However, the new variant does have a distinct cluster of mutations, so further testing will be required to determine whether this is the case.”