We didn’t get Covid until last summer - the third time we ate indoors at a restaurant. But it wasn’t the restaurant’s fault - it was my BIL.
My oldest son out in CA lives like a hermit and hasn’t gotten it. I think when we saw him last fall was the first time he’d been with anyone without a mask on. We tested before we visited him.
Our younger son and DIL who just got back from a Navy tour in Japan have neither of them tested positive. Son thinks he probably had it while he was at sea. Something was going around, but they didn’t have tests. DIL has felt sick a few times, but always tests negative. When off base everyone wears masks even outside.
I wouldn’t be surprised if you did have it before it was a known thing in the states. My niece’s S almost died from “some Coronavirus - but not Covid 19” when the pandemic first hit China. Supposedly it was not in the states yet, but a couple cases were identified in the west coast around that time. It wasn’t until at least a year later that they realized it actually was in our area at the time. He had visited a couple research hospitals in NY and OH just before he got sick, and it was well before the lockdown in the US. He has severe disabilities, and they got worse after his stint in the ICU. It was a long term setback for him - he may well have gotten worse without having been sick, but we’ll never know. His seizures have gotten so much worse (they are constant, keeping him from getting healthy sleep), and he has regressed to the point where he began aspirating food into his lungs, had an ng tube put in, and now has a direct tube in his stomach. He may have reached this point if he hadn’t had what we suspect was Covid, but it does seem like more than a coincidence.
To our knowledge, neither DH nor myself has had covid, although he had a “nasty cold” in the weeks before anyone knew about the virus. We have been very cautious, and are still wearing masks indoors. Yesterday I went to a neighborhood party and was the only person wearing a mask; he declined to attend. However, we are starting to take more risks such as attending public events and will eat outdoors when it warms up - we’ve come to the realization that we can’t spend the rest of our lives in isolation.
Ditto. Two weeks after our second shot in April '21, our lives went completely back to normal. We’ve been boosted three times but, otherwise, haven’t given a thought to COVID. If we’ve gotten it, we’re asymptomatic and see no reason to test.
We have all the shots and boosters – I’d take mRNA in an IV drip if they let me.
At my insistence, we’d been very cautious. Omicron finally got us last summer and it was like a mild cold. In the before times, I routinely went to the office with a cold that mild. I have relaxed somewhat since then because it was so painless for us. I still mask with KN95 at airports, trains, theaters, etc., and intend to do so permanently. I LOVE going 3 years with zero colds and suspect that this is why.
One of my sisters is an OBGYN working labor and delivery at an urban public hospital for the last 20 years. At several points, 40% of the laboring mothers coming in tested positive. The staff wears N95s like the professionals they are, and they are tested frequently. She’s never had it.
DH myself to our knowledge had it once when omicron first came out. We are up to date boosted. I had a bad cold this holiday , but it was not covid.
D had it fall 2020 and again around the same time we did.
S likely had it last spring, but never tested. He has only had one J & J but is more of a recluse by nature.
Now the surprising thing is that my Mom, who lives in S. Florida has never tested +. She caught the cold I had recently, and tested negative time and time again. The year before when myself , H and D had it, she was exposed and never caught it. She has traveled to Europe and other places, goes everywhere, and stopped wearing masks when they were no longer required. We are happy she has stayed safe, at teh same time living her life. It was her choice.
There are currently five residents in my dad’s facility who are COVID positive. Dad had it probably six months ago - it was a very mild case. Hoping he doesn’t get it again.
My 85 year old MIL has never had it either (knock on wood!) She gave up masking after the original set of vaccinations, and was never really great about it anyways. She lives alone in a 55+ townhouse, but socializes most days of any given week - eating out with friends, bridge group, knitting group, Questers, AAUW, spending time with family, chatting up everyone at the grocery store and CVS, etc. Other than having treatable breast cancer 10 years ago, she is in good health and enjoying living life while she can! Can’t fault her for that.
Never had it, have had 5 vaccines. I got to the grocery store, took my mother to million medical appointments over the 2.5 years, but I’m not terribly social. I like my 6’ zone of protection, most of my meetings went to zoo. However, I do volunteer work with children in their homes (NO masks, no disinfecting steps taken) and I did teach in a school setting for 10 months. No issues.
My brother returned from Thailand in Jan 2020 very very sick, and then gave whatever it was to my mother. Both hacked and coughed for months, but of course no vaccines or medicines or even testing at that time.
My nephew got it in Jan 2021 and was sick for 6 weeks. He wasn’t/couldn’t be vaccinated at that time as he was 15. He has long term, had terrible migraines, couldn’t play sports, has to wear blue tinted glasses now.
I had something very early in the pandemic, before there was testing and even before we were all being told to mask up. This occurred after a trip to a touristy area where there were people from all over the world. I ended up with a relative mild flu like illness, followed by a nasty dry cough that would not go away, followed by shortness of breath that went on for a very long time.
The shortness of breath got a lot better after I was vaccinated. I happened to mention that I wondered if this was because there were a few viruses left and the vaccine helped my immune system to wipe them out. However, having said this in the presence of a biotech researcher and a DVM candidate resulted in a rather long discussion to the effect that this is possible, but there are other ways that the vaccination might have improved my shortness of breath. I did not quite fully understand all of the discussion.
I have asked a couple of doctors about being tested for past exposure to COVID. They have both said that the tests are not all that accurate, and there is nothing that they would do differently based on test results, so it really was not necessary.
After recovering from what I thought was probably COVID, and after being fully vaccinated with boosters, I also had at least two known exposures to people who had confirmed positive test results. Both times I had a very minor sore throat for about one day and then recovered. It was very mild both times.
One daughter had a confirmed case of COVID early in the pandemic, after tests were available but before vaccines were available. She had a very minor illness and recovered quickly. She then got a lot of overtime in her veterinary clinic as the rest of the clinic took turns being out sick. The other daughter and my wife were both fully vaccinated before being exposed, and had very minor illness with no real problems (other than having to take a week out of work).
There is someone I know whose father died of COVID. He was not particularly old and had been in good health.
My wife and I are also after our very first bouts of Covid. My wife was almost over with it after less than a week, but possibly has a secondary sinus infection. I had symptoms for a couple of weeks, and am still not up to full functioning four weeks after it started. Mostly more easily tired. I also have remains of congestion, but that is no different than what happens when I get the flu or even regular colds.
Both fully vaxxed and boosted, I got by bivalent in October, and she got hers in December, which may be why hers was easier. I infected her most likely, because we are a loving couple, and share everything.
My mother got for the first time. She’s OK - a wet productive cough, so she may have secondary bronchitis. No breathing issues, though. She had a fever, which is also over, so she looks to be on the mend - she’s fully vaxxed and boosted as well.
Our kid has not yet had it. We thought that she did a couple of times, but it was always one of the many colds that were running through her college.
It is an indication of just how much less susceptible young people are to Covid. This bout of Covid was the first time that either my wife or I have been sick with any virus since 2018, so we could avoid all other viruses, and are still avoiding them, but not Covid. Our kid has been infected with a number of viruses at college since the mask mandate ended, but still has not tested positive for Covid.
I’m a fully vaccinated nurse and escaped Covid for 3 years, the week after my employer lifted the mask mandate I caught Covid. Covid itself wasn’t bad, fever body aches and sore throat for 4 days then just general weakness. I returned to work on day 8 and couldn’t finish my shift and have been unable to return. I’m suffering from dizziness and tachycardia, my HR was 150 at rest for several hours yesterday at an urgent care clinic. I’m now on day 16 so probably too early to classify myself long Covid, but I’m definitely struggling.
I am now down to only a handful of people I know who have not had covid at all - my daughter and two of her friends. Everybody else seems to have had it at this point.
Have not seen any research news on the topic of those who are prone to getting COVID-19 more often despite hybrid immunity. In the absence of that, taking additional precautions regarding avoiding higher risk situations and lowering the risk threshold for wearing N95-quality masks seem like the only obvious actions. Other possible actions would be more speculative.
As I have posted elsewhere, I was diagnosed with Covid on Mother’s Day 2022–went to urgent care for symptoms of bronchitis and was really surprised about the positive test. Since then I had pneumonia twice (once, discharged from the ER after being there overnight; the second time on Halloween, admitted and stayed for 5 days), and bronchitis x3. My most recent symptom is unrelenting wheezing. I’ve been off and on and off oral Prednisone, and use a heavy duty inhaler (Symbicort). And many many doses of albuterol and budisonide via the nebulizer. I am really sick of being sick!
I haven’t gotten Covid. I’m fully vaccinated and boosted once. I work mostly from home and commute from NJ to NYC once or twice per week. I have had the flu twice since 2020 and both times I thought it was Covid but I tested negative. DH has had it, DD (HS senior) has not. I haven’t done anything to avoid it - I’ve been on planes, to concerts, to dinner.
We all got it last May despite being fully vaxxed and boosted. S22 had no symptoms at all, S24 had the equivalent of a nasty cold and hubby and I were somewhere in between. No long covid symptoms that I know of. We have all gotten numerous colds, though, courtesy of S24 who seems to bring them home from HS. All the colds have been much worse than covid was. I mask only on airplanes and in the airport or at the doctors office at this point. We eat out and socialize normally. We were religious maskers during the heart of the pandemic and were super careful, but we aren’t nearly so careful now.
H and I, vax X 5, haven’t gotten it. My kids have each one time, both the first time they did an indoor thing without a mask.
H and I still haven’t eaten at a restaurant indoors, and mask regularly. I’m thinking of relaxing that this spring, but I don’t want him to feel like I’m exposing him, so we’ll see. He teaches all day in an N95, has health issues that make him really not want to get it.
I knew quite a few people who died of it at the start, so it makes me a little extra aware. And a few who have had long Covid. My D had Covid in January, and now gets headaches which she never did before. Not sure if that’s long Covid. Others I know definitely had/have it.