Andrew Marr’s terrifying battle with Covid that could’ve killed him – despite being double-jabbed

ANDREW Marr has opened up about his potentially deadly battle with Covid despite having both jabs.

The BBC journalist was struck down with the bug when he arrived back in London after covering the G7 summit last month in Cornwall.

Marr, 61, said his symptoms were akin to a “summer cold” with a “bit of a sore throat and a slight headache”.

But a day later, Marr said he started to feel “seriously ill” so he decided to take a PCR test despite six lateral flow tests coming back negative.

Despite being double-jabbed, his test result came back positive.

Marr, who suffered a near-fatal stroke in 2013 at the age of just 53, believes he is a “vaccine success” as he didn’t find himself in hospital battling the virus.

‘YOU DON’T HAVE SUPERPOWERS’

He told the Daily Mail: “If I hadn’t been vaccinated I might well have been carking it in hospital, or at least on a ventilator.

“So I’m not saying this is a failure of the vaccines, far from it, what I’m saying is just be careful. Even if you’re double-vaccinated, you don’t have superpowers, you can still get ill.”

The news presenter said his symptoms were up and down – leaving him “anxious” he would get long Covid and never “recover properly”.

As well as suffering from shakes, muscle aches, tiredness, queasiness and a “nasty, vice-like headache with pain behind the eyeballs”, Marr also lost his sense of smell and taste.

Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest updates

He said he also feared for his damaged lung after becoming “chesty” but thankfully it didn’t worsen enough he needed to go to hospital.

Marr now believes he has almost fully recovered but is still fearful of developing long Covid.

He said: “I’m monitoring myself all the time for brain fog, but there’s no sign of it yet.

“I know of one person who says she reads but can’t take anything in and remember it. And she has a high-powered job, so that’s worrying. The cognitive effects worry me constantly.”

Marr believes his diagnosis could have been “stress-related” and joked he got a “good talking-to” from his wife.

But he warned people need to be more aware of how infectious the Delta strain is as cases continue to rocket across the country.

Marr said: “Like government ministers I’d been using that glib phrase “mild to moderate symptoms” when talking about people who’d been double-vaccinated getting Covid, but it can be really, really horrible.

“We have to open up and get the economy moving again, but we also have to realise that this Delta strain is far more infectious than the earlier one, and even if you’ve had two jabs you’re not protected against serious illness.

“If I had a single thing to say to people it would be not to think you’re invulnerable, to carry on taking the precautions that feel right for you.”