Can You Get Sick With Multiple COVID-19 Variants at the Same Time?

You’re probably familiar with the different COVID-19 variants, and it’s pretty clear that new variants will continue to emerge. The dominance of a particular COVID-19 strain is the viral equivalent of “survival of the fittest.” One strain will always “win out,” but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the other strains completely disappear. For example, when Omicron became the dominant strain in the U.S., Delta didn’t completely disappear. That brings up the question: If there’s more than one strain floating around, can you get sick with more than one at the same time? And more importantly, what happens if you get more than one variant at the same time? Let’s take a closer look at the answers to these questions.

Can you be diagnosed with more than one type of COVID-19?

You can get sick with multiple variants of COVID-19 at the same time. The first recorded case of this was in Belgium, where a 90-year-old woman was diagnosed with the Alpha and Beta strains. Additional reports soon popped up in Brazil and Portugal.  

These cases proved that it was possible to get infected with more than one variant at the same time. 

But this isn’t the first time people have gotten sick with more than one variant of a virus at once. During the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, there were cases of dual infection with the H1N1 and the seasonal flu (H3N2) strains. It’s possible that people get sick with different variants of other respiratory viruses — like the ones that cause the common cold — all the time. 

When you’re sick with a respiratory virus, it’s unlikely that your healthcare provider will test you for every possible virus because it’s expensive and doesn’t affect your care. Even if they test you for specific viruses, like the flu or COVID-19, the lab doesn’t run a DNA sample on each virus. The process of viral typing takes up a lot of resources. And while it helps public health officials understand how the virus is spreading and evolving, it really doesn’t affect the course of your specific illness. 

So while there have only been a few reports of these dual infections, it’s likely that they happen much more frequently than we know. 

Does having more than one type of COVID-19 change your prognosis?

Right now there’s no research to show how having two strains of COVID-19 affects the course of the illness.

In one case report, the person with a dual infection had COVID-19 shedding (meaning she was able to transmit the virus to others) for much longer than expected. It’s possible that having dual strains can make you infectious longer, but no one knows for sure.

Based on what we currently know about COVID-19 coinfection with other viruses — including the flu (flurona) — it’s possible that younger and healthier people will have similar outcomes with a dual infection as they would with a single strain. But it will take some time before science is able to fully answer this question. 

Are the symptoms for the different variants of COVID-19 all the same?

The symptoms of COVID-19 may vary slightly from virus to virus, but it’s impossible to tell which variant you have based on just your symptoms. COVID-19 symptoms include:

• Fever

• Congestion or runny nose

• Sore throat

• Cough

• Headache

• Fatigue

• New loss of smell or taste

• Difficulty breathing

• Vomiting and diarrhea

Do COVID-19 vaccines protect against all variants?

The COVID-19 vaccine offers protection against all COVID-19 variants. The vaccine works best if you receive all the recommended doses. The vaccine isn’t 100% effective, so you may still get sick even if you’re fully vaccinated. But evidence shows that people who are vaccinated are less likely to develop serious illness. 

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Written by:

Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH

Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH, is a medical editor at GoodRx. She is a licensed, board-certified pediatrician with more than a decade of experience in academic medicine.

Reviewed by:

Sophie Vergnaud, MD

Sophie Vergnaud, MD, is the Senior Medical Director for GoodRx Health. An experienced and dedicated pulmonologist and hospitalist, she spent a decade practicing and teaching clinical medicine at academic hospitals throughout London before transitioning to a career in health education and health technology.

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