Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Sunday, Aug 10, 2025

BBC’s Andrew Marr says he caught Covid-19 AFTER vaccine

BBC’s Andrew Marr says he caught Covid-19 AFTER vaccine

BBC journalist Andrew Marr says he caught a “nasty” bout of Covid-19 despite being fully vaccinated. Government advisers say this is normal, and similar cases are cropping up around the world.

Speaking on his Sunday programme after a week off, Marr told viewers that “he had a bit of Covid last week, despite being double jabbed, and very nasty it was too.” Marr described his symptoms like those of a “summer cold,” and asked guest Professor Peter Horby, a government adviser on the coronavirus, whether he was “just unlucky” to catch the virus after being fully vaccinated.

“I think you were,” Horby replied. Vaccines, he said, “are actually remarkably effective at preventing hospitalisations and deaths. They are less effective at preventing infection.”


“So, although you were sick, you weren’t hospitalised and there wasn’t any fatality, and that is probably because of the vaccination.”

Marr is 61 years old and was vaccinated earlier this spring. He suggested on Sunday that he may have caught the virus while covering the G7 summit in Cornwall earlier this month.

Marr’s case is one of many around the world in which fully vaccinated people have managed to catch the virus regardless. Two American guests aboard a “fully vaccinated” cruise ship made headlines when they tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this month, and a study back in April found that among fully vaccinated US workers, around 1% still got infected. Altogether in the US, more than 4,100 people have been hospitalised or died after catching Covid-19 post-vaccination, according to data released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). No comparable data from the UK is readily available, but the country has one of the world’s highest rates of vaccination, and has seen new cases tick steadily upwards since the beginning of summer.

Though vaccines are regarded – at least in the public consciousness – as a ticket to safety and normality after a year of outbreaks and lockdowns, health officials are still recommending that social distancing guidelines be adhered to.

“People cannot feel safe just because they had the two doses. They still need to protect themselves,” Dr. Mariangela Simao, World Health Organisation assistant director-general for access to medicines and health products, said during a briefing on Friday.

“People need to continue to use masks consistently, be in ventilated spaces, hand hygiene… the physical distance, avoid crowding. This still continues to be extremely important, even if you’re vaccinated when you have a community transmission ongoing,” Simao added.

In the UK, that community transmission has been driven by the Delta variant of the coronavirus, first detected in India. This variant, which is thought to spread more rapidly than others, now accounts for 95% of cases sequenced in the UK, per data from Public Health England.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
Iran's Parliament Votes to Suspend Cooperation with Nuclear Watchdog
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
Explosions Rock Doha as Iranian Missiles Target Qatar
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Oman Set to Introduce Personal Income Tax, First in Gulf
×