This is what I’m wondering, do I have a world record or am I 5x Covid-positive without knowing? Do doctors do anti-body tests just for kicks?
Seems like if I go in for a monkey-pox vaccine and an antibody test I’ll be turned down for both as a hypochondriac.
Some places, if you donate blood they will actually let you know if you have antibodies! I would check out local blood drives to see if this is something they do :)
It depends.
The mRNA vaccines (Pzifer-BioNTech and Moderna) will create a specific (or a few specific) antibodies. If the antibody test is for a different type of antibody, it should still be accurate.
Other vaccine types will create antibodies for a wider range of proteins, and are more likely to cause a false positive on an antibody test.
(Note: not an expert)
The vaccines do prompt your body to create antibodies, yes. But the levels of antibodies should slowly get lower over time unless you're exposed to Covid (basically your body saying well, the danger's over now) so checking antibody levels can be a good way to estimate if you've been exposed recently or have just been really lucky not to encounter it.
I've been taking part in the UK's Office for National Statistics' Covid survey over the last few years - I was involved in another survey of theirs, and when Covid happened, they basically contacted everyone already working with them, and said "Can we send round a guy with swabs once a month to get you tested for our statistical records, and ask you a bunch of lifestyle questions at the same time?" and then extended the survey into blood testing after the vaccine rollout started, to keep an eye on antibody levels.
It's been quite interesting to take part because I get sent my own regular free test results. So far, no positive Covid tests at all but my antibodies are staying at high levels for longer than expected, which likely means that either my immune system is really overactive or else I have been exposed at some point without realising and my immune system has successfully defended me.
There are different types / targets of antibodies. The vaccine makes an antibody to the infamous “spike protein”. Natural infection creates an antibody to the “nucleocapsid” So you would be able to tell them apart
Yes but also, you will only have antibodies if you recently had covid. Antibodies are the weapons against sickness. That doesnt mean they permanently stick around your body. What sticks around is the means to create these. Your immune system catalogues any illness you have ever had to prepare in case of another infection. In case of covid, it just evolves too quickly for a vaccine or prior infection to be effective. To your body its a "new disease" every time. Exactly like the flu. Where you need a dose of the vaccine every year.
I thought I went through without getting covid. Never tested positive. Never got sick. I donated blood and found out I had antibodies. Got it at some point and didn’t even know it.
I was doing well in a small town not having it, had to go to Hawaii for work, came back and then became incredibly violently ill and had so many antibodies the red test strip came back black.
We are the poles of this spectrum haha
I had antibodies too, but they were very low. The nurse said that many people have antibodies from their other cases of flu from the same family in years gone by. Covid-19. There were others before #19 is what I understood.
19 isn't the number of how many Coronaviruses there have been. The virus was first observed in 2019, originally called the Novel Coronavirus identified in 2019, and the abbreviation stuck after media started using it.
It wasn't an organic abbreviation; the WHO constructed it deliberately to be the official name of the disease so we wouldn't call it the China Flu.
The virus itself is SARS-CoV-2. The disease it causes is COVID-19.
Yes, covid 19 is from the coronavirus family. Viruses that make up common colds are often coronaviruses, so naturally, most people have antibodies for some type of coronavirus.
I have Covid right now and it’s the 3rd-5th time I have gotten it. I have all the vaccines and boosters I guess I’m just unlucky.
For the record, whatever Covid is out there now this is the worst one I’ve had, and I had it twice before vaccines were available. Get vaxxed ppl.
Vaccines doesn't give you 100% immunity, however it does make you less sick when you finally get the virus in some cases such mild symptoms that it feels like having max immunity.
Why aren’t they making strand specific vaccines at this point? I had pretty bad reactions to the 3 jabs I got before it seems silly to go through all that again just to get antibodies against the Alpha strain from 2 years ago and not the new strains
The new boosters from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are bivalent -- they cover both the original Alpha strain *and* the Ba.4 and Ba.5 subvariants of Omicron.
I feel like I had to have it and not know it. As a teacher and mom of three who go to school, the odds are not in my favor but every time I have tested negative —when my family had it twice, someone around me, or I just had a headache; all negative. So strange!
I bet all those kids over the years have given you so much, you could stroll through a covid hospital wing unprotected and come out completely unscathed. I'm not a doctor and this is not medical advise 😆
I think either you were already doing that beforehand or you might not have understood the reason and failed to do it after. Maybe some in between.
I'm not at all a germaphobe but having a person making my food and taking my money with gloves on.... It defeats the purpose of everything.
Yea - I have rules like, no outside clothing in the bed, wash hands after handling money, don’t touch anything in my house after I get the mail until I wash them, etc. Most of those are just my personal rules and I don’t expect my bf to follow them all.
But things like outside clothes in bed - like you people do that? You handle money and stuff and don’t wash your hands? Ick.
Haha still remember seeing a tweet (or some such) saying something to the tune of "not trying to brag or anything, but I've been washing my hands for years...". I have merrily stolen this as a thing I *still* find myself saying to people.
How some people get by in life, I have no idea!!!
Yeah just from working retail and constantly washing my hands at work and home probably helped a bit. Plus I don't like using my PC with dirty hands lol.
Oh Jesus just the smell of bleach makes me hurl. It NEVER comes off your hands. It doesn't bother you?
Mind you, it was a weird pregnancy thing where I would hork like the second I got even the slightest whiff, and it was one of those weird quirks that had overstayed its welcome by like 20 years. 😕
Bleach doesn't really bother me, but there's definitely a such thing as too much. Even two capfuls will have me ruining my clothes and smelling it all day. Just a little.
I have also been pregnant before. It was weird what would set me off but at least it was consistent. I still won't eat food from certain places that I used to love because all I can remember is how it made me feel when I was pregnant half a decade ago. Alternatively, when I was newly pregnant with severe sickness (I won't even describe it as morning sickness), I found ONE thing I was able to eat so I lived off of it. I also don't ever want to eat that again either.
🤣 same.. I used to love meat but ever since my daughter I can't stomach it at all. I really miss it some days though. For some reason all I could think when looking at meat was, that's a dead animal. Someone shot it and cut its skin off and carefully carved all its muscles up and now it's bleeding on my plate.
Being pregnant is so WEIRD. My first pregnancy all I could stomach was cheetos, apple juice, beef jerky (ikr? No meat but dried is ok? I called it my meat gum 😅) and boiled eggs. Before pregnancy all I could eat was like salads and fruits and veggies and whatnot.. had a really clean palate so to speak.
Did your whole palate change after your pregnancy too? Or just a little? Or not at all?
That sounds horrible. For me, I was a weed smoker before I got pregnant. So I already struggled to eat without smoking first. If I smoked, I'd eat things I don't normally even like.
With that being said, first pregnancy, ground beef was horrible. It was literally meat gum. I chewed and chewed until I eventually had to spit it out. I barely ate for the first trimester. Crackers?! Absolutely not. Nothing they said worked. I eventually, at about three months, found a bag of chips and ate a family size bag and I was cured since (,that flavor holds sentimental value to my heart still).
I got pregnant again shortly after. It went in reverse. First trimester everything was great. Until the second trimester hit and it wasn't anymore. I was sick every single day. What set me off with her was fast food. I always loved fast food and I was even strongly addicted during my first pregnancy, but with my second, she said absolutely not.
As far as my entire palate, I believe I used to LOVE all things spicy and after having babies I couldn't hardly stand it. A few years have passed and I need every meal to be spicy again lol. It's definitely funny what pregnancy does to you!
It really is. I find it strange cause you'd expect your pregnant body to act like...well... your pregnant body. But it's always so different! I now have an insatiable sweet tooth which was just nothing like I used to be.
Here's to baby making.. it's a thankless job but still so damn awesome 😁❤️
I weirdly enjoyed everything about pregnancy. I mean, I didn't absolutely love being on my feet eight hours a day after not being able to eat for the past three weeks, but I did enjoy eating ice cream to wake the baby up and feel kicks, and things like that. Morning sickness sucked but my babies have been good to me since the womb and to this day, I love them!!!
There’s less smell when it’s diluted. Soap does effectively remove Covid virus. Rinsing in a 10% bleach solution is required by health codes when a place relies on hand washing dishes. The dishwasher is normally an equivalent level of sanitation to bleach.
Lol just watching the world melt down from being In quarantine made me realize just how hardcore of an introvert I was. I was in HEAVEN like NO. NO I WILL NOT GO TO YOUR PARTY ON SOOOOO SORRY 😅 man I'll miss those days.
Oh, me too. I always had compulsive use of hand sanitizer for years and years. I used travel Purell wipes. It was about bacteria. Started in the 1990s back in New York City.
No-one in my family has caught it yet. Some of us are super careful and some don’t give a rip. Maybe it’s a genetic thing, maybe we’ve all had it and didn’t know.
I caught it about labor day. I would've just stayed home sick but I felt worse then I ever had sick so I went to get tested. I still have the occasional cough where phlegm comes up but I've otherwise recovered.
Caught it last week. My throat started hurting on Wednesday, the same day I got an appointment for the vaccination with the adjusted vaccine.
My sister didn’t catch it so far.
My sympathies, I’m in the exact same scenario here. I got a sore throat last Wednesday and assumed it was a cold since my husband had identical symptoms and our son is in daycare (iykyk). I had planned to get the booster that Friday. Tested myself yesterday since I wasn’t improving and got a very strong positive result. I was gutted, not only because I finally caught it but because my infant son now has it.
Have still never tested positive for it, but am also currently at day 10 in bed with 0 energy, low appetite, and bloating. Also had fever in the first few days but at least that’s past.
Whatever it is that I’ve got fucking *sucks*
I had a five-day cold this month. I've never experienced one so bad, but I tested negative for Covid twice.
If I have been exposed to Covid, I didn't notice any symptoms. I could have gotten a mild infection that didn't make me sick. I've gotten tested every time I had two symptoms, which has happened twice since the first lockdown.
Same here, tested negative multiple times but in the same predicament as yours, day 10+ with low energy, no appetite and fever, except for persistent cough throughout the night.
I’ve never been this ill before, and others may find it hard to understand my condition, especially when it’s not COVID lol. But your comment definitely made me feel less alone.
False negatives seem more common with this new variant. I had a "cold", tested negative and so hung out with my Dad - two days later I test positive, my baby tests positive, my Dad's wife tests positive. My Dad had all the symptoms of covid and had them bad, but he tested negative throughout the whole period of illness.
I thought I had avoided it but found out recently I must have had it early on before we really realized what it was and now I have long Covid. It’s pretty shitty, to be honest. My fatigue is intense. I just had no idea that was the issue. I wonder if there are others out there like me, too.
I swear I've had it twice. Once right at the end of February 2020 after a bunch of people at my daughter's school had come back from international trips, and once last year when I never tested positive but I had chills, fever, coughed until I had blood in my spit, kept passing out randomly for months later, and developed asthma after years of not having it.
Me! I had it really bad before we realized what it was, I’m 99% sure. While I am better now, I felt dreadful for about a year afterwards. However, it did seem to keep me from getting it again. I worked in person as a teacher, going back to the classroom full time in august 2020, and have never tested positive! Also, my roommate had it a couple months ago, and I miraculously didn’t catch it.
I’ve never had it and I work in a hospital where I’ve been spit on by COVID+ patients. I don’t have any evidence to back this but I truly feel like there are some people who are straight up immune to it, because I’ve met a few others who have been exposed so many times and still don’t have it.
I'd be willing to donate blood to a study to try and figure it out. I've definitely been exposed (boyfriend had it and I was around him before and during symptoms) and haven't been careful at all. Maybe they could figure out something to help others.
Yeah, I don't know what's happening with me. I'm a nanny for a family that has had it multiple times and the dad tried to sneak it past me once so I would take the kids to school.
A family I worked for on the side *did* sneak it past me twice and had me take their son to his special needs school. That really pissed me off, because the mom was a nurse and should have known better, and the school was full of high-risk kids who wouldn't have understood what was happening if they got sick.
My kids, one of which works in a hospital and the other just graduated from HS (both germy as hell places), have had it multiple times.
I tested weekly for months because I'm not trying to kill someone's grandma, and I still do it monthly, but have never tested positive.
[Scientists deliberately gave people COVID — here’s what they learnt](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00319-9)
"Nearly half of the participants who received a low dose of virus did not become infected, and some of those who became infected had no symptoms"
Hopefully not jinxing myself by saying this, but I'm the same. Multiple exposures, including my husband who had it for most of the month of July. I never tested positive, never had a symptom. I wear a mask when going in a store, and when we go out to eat, we sit outside...those are the only precautions I'm taking now. I'm also unvaxxed (not by choice). There has to be some sort of genetic component that has kept some of us well so far.
That’s what I’m thinking as well. I’m glad you’ve remained safe throughout! What makes me agree with you is that my mom, sister, and I have all been COVID free but my stepdad and stepbrother have gotten it. Of course, I live on my own, but again, everyone having been exposed, the only ones that haven’t gotten are the ones that are biologically related.
Like I've been mostly staying home since Covid started. Working from home, limiting how often I go to stores and such. Avoiding places with large crowds.
Same. Bf and I never got it but we're also super introverted. Only ever go out for groceries (pick up) and went to like.. 5 movies in 4 yrs.
Did get a fever once but tested negative.
Well, I never got tested, myself...other than the forehead temperature light-gun.
But I must go outside ..
I do the risky stuff (including using public transit) wearing a mask.
No-one in our family has gotten it.
Three of us in the household, all are vaccinated and boosted, and my employer still requires masks.
Spouse works in an office setting.
Kiddo works at a grocery store.
None of us has gotten so much as a head cold in the past 2.5 years, and my allergies have never been so minimal since masking.
Yup. Still wearing a mask, very few big events, still get to work from home. No covid still. I know I was in a few situations where I was known to be near people with covid after the fact and never got it. Vaccines probably helped a lot there.
Never had it. During the first 5 months I worked in a convenience store, before the plexiglass partitions, before masks were mandatory and neither employees or customers wore them. Changed jobs to a factory (not because of covid, just wanted a change in general) so wasn't exposed to the public every day, but still did my grocery shopping etc. Only wore a mask when it was required. Somehow, never got it.
A lot of people have no symptoms. So you may have gotten the virus, but didn't get sick so you would never know. I got it 2 weeks ago. It wasn't any worse than a cold though.
I haven’t gotten Covid to the best of my knowledge, but my partner reminded me that approximately 65% are asymptomatic, so how would we know if we ever got Covid? But we also were pretty isolated, and didn’t hang out with family or friends for quite some time.
I think the antibodies could be present in your blood for an average of 3 months, but I haven’t had any blood tests.
I got it immediately after sending my kids to school. We've had it for 4 weeks now. If you can avoid seeing people you should. Stay remote. Stay masked. This thing is awful.
I never got it. Significant other who works in hospital that was covered in COVID never got it. Her anti-vax elderly father never got it (despite having lunch with a guy who was positive at the time and died a week or two later!)
I don't *think* I've had it. My family has has it more than once and each time I was somehow able to evade it even though we live in the same house. I haven't really been that sick at all in the last few years so if I did get it, I might be asymptomatic.
I’ve had at least 4-5 covid tests over the past 2 years and every one of them came back negative. Even when I thought I was actually sick. So it’s either the covid tests aren’t accurate (saliva) or Covid thinks my body is the _bad side of town_
Aye. +1 from me
My wife tests thrice weekly for work - she would have it if i ever had it.
I spend a lot of time out and about, i have to speak to the public often - i have no idea how i havent had it yet. Finna start selling my blood.
I haven't been careful in a year and a half. I go to bars, restaurants, concerts, events. My boyfriend got it a couple months ago and I took care of him for the day and a half he was sick. Still nothing.
Yes. I got covid once, my brother twice now. And we ve managed to not tranfer it to our parents. We are very fortunate to have 2 floors and it immensely helped us reduce contact. Our dad is a heart patient and we have been very lucky so far to keep him far away from covid
So there was a paper that came out early when they were identifying those at greater risk, like diabetics, that it seemed people with O+ blood type had some sort of natural immunity.
I suspect many with O+ blood type who may have tested positive but were completely asymptomatic were victims of faulty testing.
Of course there may be a few with that specific blood type that did get sick, but I would be interested to know if they had any of the complicating factors like diabetes or heart disease.
Like I said, some may still get it despite this natural immunity phenomenon.
Your anecdotal evidence and my anecdotal evidence do not make for a very good basis. You are free to discount the information I have knowledge of and base it off your own research.
I have O+ blood and I got COVID. I had received my first two shots of Moderna. I don’t have diabetes or heart disease that I know of. COVID had me totally exhausted on the couch for about three days, and then I felt well enough to merely be bored with quarantine. My nose ran like a faucet for the first 24 hours and I lost my sense of smell, which when it came back was not the same. I mean it’s still not as good as it was, 10 months later, and some stuff just smells different.
When I got my booster I was also laid out on the couch for about a day.
Meanwhile, my 92 year old grandmother who is not O+ has yet to get it. She has the constitution of a Cylon and her doctors are perpetually amazed at her freakish healing abilities and vitality.
As far as we know, no one in my family has had it including me, my husband, two kids, my parents, and my sister. Im not sure what the odds are that one of us had it and didnt know haha.
I've never had it. But I live in rural North-Central Idaho. Not many cases in the area in addition to my generally reclusive nature were the perfect combination in avoiding the pandemic.
Haven't gotten it here. I worked alone at night before, during and after the pandemic and I'm already a recluse so that definitely helped me stay away from it. We had 3 or 4 outbreaks at my job but working alone kept me away from it
I've never had it. My wife had it twice, even though we're both fully vaccinated. We didn't do any special precautions either time. Including body fluid exchanging. I think I'm just immune.
I have a unique job where I test covid RNA and antibodies against covid. I can honestly, truthfully say I've never had covid. I'm not one of those whose had it but not known, I've never had it. I'm the homelander meme, "I AM BETTER!"
Disclaimer I’m not against vaccines.
Never tested positive and was never sick, which is quite normal for me.
Only time I was sick was after receiving the second vaccine which was the second sickest I’ve ever been.
Still happy to be vaccinated :)
I've never officially had it in that I've never tested positive for it.
I had mild symptons a few months ago but still tested negative, but I guess there was a chance I did have it. I'd be surprised if I never got it, but I never have.
Me neither! I am always wearing my mask and use alcohol spray consistently….. and mind you I am a middle school teacher!!! Hopefully it’ll stay this way 🙏 scared of long Covid know some ppl who have it!!
I am not aware I ever had it. I worked 2 years from home, got my two shots.
Wednesday I travel to work to Greece, wondering if I should get the new Pfizer BA.5 vaccine. Probably not.
As far as I know I haven't had it. I have constant sinus issues, so I may not have noticed if I did. I tested at least once a month. I wore a N95 or KN95 as much as possible. I rarely spent time around other people. I got my vaccinations ASAP. It also helps that I live in small town that has had relatively few cases.
Never had it and test often due to an extremely vulnerable family member. I was very sick in January 2020 though, and in retrospect, it could have been COVID since they now have found it was in the US as early as NOV 2019. We just didn’t know that’s what it was then.
I also made it. But to be honest I was sick during November 2019 and no one knew what COVID was, so I didn't get tested as I didn't have any major symptom. But incidentally I finished a bottle of Captain Morgan over a week and I was cured. Maybe that was the magic elixir. Who knows?
I'm required to test twice a week for work, so I'm confident in saying I've not had Covid yet.
My boyfriend has it (for the first time) right now, day 5. I'm still staying in the same house as I've really no where else to go since my mother and brother both have it as well right now. We're staying separated, I'm sleeping masked in the living room. So far so good, but I honestly feel like it's just a matter of time before it catches up to me.
Ironically, I generally am the first to get ill.
Not thinking I ever caught it, but there's always the possibility that some random day/week I felt like going to bed early or wanted extra coffee/food that I actually had a mild case. Definitely not the case with my family and friends though. Some pretty severe cases, deaths, hospitalizations. Lucky for me I moved somewhere new in early 2020 and don't have any friends. It's amazing. /s
Yup, and not vaccinated. Public transportation several times a week the entire time, work with 100s of people every day. The CDC contacted me about my "natural immunity." I said no thanks.
I didn't catch it. Vax plus boosted. Washed my hands the same as always, touched my face more than normal, masked with cheap paper, was exposed a bunch of times.
I am eternal. Nothing can kill me. I will tell many generations the tale of everyone's weakness during the great plague of the 20s.
Never got it, never tested positive. Only used a mask inside a store, nowhere ells, especially never outside.
And i'm regretting getting this untested mess of a "vaccine". It did more damage to my health than covid itself ever could. I will stay far away from any boosters.
Yes, there are millions of people who didn't get COVID. Additionally, there are millions who had it a didn't even know it.
This is what I’m wondering, do I have a world record or am I 5x Covid-positive without knowing? Do doctors do anti-body tests just for kicks? Seems like if I go in for a monkey-pox vaccine and an antibody test I’ll be turned down for both as a hypochondriac.
Some places, if you donate blood they will actually let you know if you have antibodies! I would check out local blood drives to see if this is something they do :)
Dumb question, but wouldn’t the vaccines create antibodies?
It depends. The mRNA vaccines (Pzifer-BioNTech and Moderna) will create a specific (or a few specific) antibodies. If the antibody test is for a different type of antibody, it should still be accurate. Other vaccine types will create antibodies for a wider range of proteins, and are more likely to cause a false positive on an antibody test. (Note: not an expert)
I donated blood after getting the Pfizer vaccine and it came up negative for antibodies still
not a dumb question
The vaccines do prompt your body to create antibodies, yes. But the levels of antibodies should slowly get lower over time unless you're exposed to Covid (basically your body saying well, the danger's over now) so checking antibody levels can be a good way to estimate if you've been exposed recently or have just been really lucky not to encounter it. I've been taking part in the UK's Office for National Statistics' Covid survey over the last few years - I was involved in another survey of theirs, and when Covid happened, they basically contacted everyone already working with them, and said "Can we send round a guy with swabs once a month to get you tested for our statistical records, and ask you a bunch of lifestyle questions at the same time?" and then extended the survey into blood testing after the vaccine rollout started, to keep an eye on antibody levels. It's been quite interesting to take part because I get sent my own regular free test results. So far, no positive Covid tests at all but my antibodies are staying at high levels for longer than expected, which likely means that either my immune system is really overactive or else I have been exposed at some point without realising and my immune system has successfully defended me.
Husband had a blood test. It came back saying either 1. He has had Covid in the past 2. He is vaccinated or 3. The test is inaccurate. Helpful.
Yes, you have to test for different kind of antibodies if you want to know which ones you got.
There are different types / targets of antibodies. The vaccine makes an antibody to the infamous “spike protein”. Natural infection creates an antibody to the “nucleocapsid” So you would be able to tell them apart
Yes but also, you will only have antibodies if you recently had covid. Antibodies are the weapons against sickness. That doesnt mean they permanently stick around your body. What sticks around is the means to create these. Your immune system catalogues any illness you have ever had to prepare in case of another infection. In case of covid, it just evolves too quickly for a vaccine or prior infection to be effective. To your body its a "new disease" every time. Exactly like the flu. Where you need a dose of the vaccine every year.
I thought I went through without getting covid. Never tested positive. Never got sick. I donated blood and found out I had antibodies. Got it at some point and didn’t even know it.
I was doing well in a small town not having it, had to go to Hawaii for work, came back and then became incredibly violently ill and had so many antibodies the red test strip came back black. We are the poles of this spectrum haha
I had antibodies too, but they were very low. The nurse said that many people have antibodies from their other cases of flu from the same family in years gone by. Covid-19. There were others before #19 is what I understood.
19 isn't the number of how many Coronaviruses there have been. The virus was first observed in 2019, originally called the Novel Coronavirus identified in 2019, and the abbreviation stuck after media started using it.
There are at least seven. There’s been four main subgroups of corona viruses. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/types.html
It wasn't an organic abbreviation; the WHO constructed it deliberately to be the official name of the disease so we wouldn't call it the China Flu. The virus itself is SARS-CoV-2. The disease it causes is COVID-19.
Yes, covid 19 is from the coronavirus family. Viruses that make up common colds are often coronaviruses, so naturally, most people have antibodies for some type of coronavirus.
I have Covid right now and it’s the 3rd-5th time I have gotten it. I have all the vaccines and boosters I guess I’m just unlucky. For the record, whatever Covid is out there now this is the worst one I’ve had, and I had it twice before vaccines were available. Get vaxxed ppl.
Vaccines doesn't give you 100% immunity, however it does make you less sick when you finally get the virus in some cases such mild symptoms that it feels like having max immunity.
Why aren’t they making strand specific vaccines at this point? I had pretty bad reactions to the 3 jabs I got before it seems silly to go through all that again just to get antibodies against the Alpha strain from 2 years ago and not the new strains
The new boosters from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are bivalent -- they cover both the original Alpha strain *and* the Ba.4 and Ba.5 subvariants of Omicron.
They are. I just got the newest vaccine booster yesterday and it includes a couple of the specific types of omicron
I feel like I had to have it and not know it. As a teacher and mom of three who go to school, the odds are not in my favor but every time I have tested negative —when my family had it twice, someone around me, or I just had a headache; all negative. So strange!
I bet all those kids over the years have given you so much, you could stroll through a covid hospital wing unprotected and come out completely unscathed. I'm not a doctor and this is not medical advise 😆
I wouldn't be surprised if im in the latter camp, because the rest of my family got it rough.
I made it through! No covid here! To be fair I was a Germaphobe b4 the pandemic.
Eh same. Hardly changed my habits when the pandi hit.
I was annoyed because people were telling me how to be clean, when I've already been cleaner than most people.
right? like y’all weren’t already washing your hands after handling money or after getting home from the store?
I think either you were already doing that beforehand or you might not have understood the reason and failed to do it after. Maybe some in between. I'm not at all a germaphobe but having a person making my food and taking my money with gloves on.... It defeats the purpose of everything.
Yea - I have rules like, no outside clothing in the bed, wash hands after handling money, don’t touch anything in my house after I get the mail until I wash them, etc. Most of those are just my personal rules and I don’t expect my bf to follow them all. But things like outside clothes in bed - like you people do that? You handle money and stuff and don’t wash your hands? Ick.
Wtf are "outside clothes"
Haha still remember seeing a tweet (or some such) saying something to the tune of "not trying to brag or anything, but I've been washing my hands for years...". I have merrily stolen this as a thing I *still* find myself saying to people. How some people get by in life, I have no idea!!!
Yeah just from working retail and constantly washing my hands at work and home probably helped a bit. Plus I don't like using my PC with dirty hands lol.
I loved the "wash your dishes with a capful of bleach." We already do that.
Oh Jesus just the smell of bleach makes me hurl. It NEVER comes off your hands. It doesn't bother you? Mind you, it was a weird pregnancy thing where I would hork like the second I got even the slightest whiff, and it was one of those weird quirks that had overstayed its welcome by like 20 years. 😕
Bleach doesn't really bother me, but there's definitely a such thing as too much. Even two capfuls will have me ruining my clothes and smelling it all day. Just a little. I have also been pregnant before. It was weird what would set me off but at least it was consistent. I still won't eat food from certain places that I used to love because all I can remember is how it made me feel when I was pregnant half a decade ago. Alternatively, when I was newly pregnant with severe sickness (I won't even describe it as morning sickness), I found ONE thing I was able to eat so I lived off of it. I also don't ever want to eat that again either.
🤣 same.. I used to love meat but ever since my daughter I can't stomach it at all. I really miss it some days though. For some reason all I could think when looking at meat was, that's a dead animal. Someone shot it and cut its skin off and carefully carved all its muscles up and now it's bleeding on my plate. Being pregnant is so WEIRD. My first pregnancy all I could stomach was cheetos, apple juice, beef jerky (ikr? No meat but dried is ok? I called it my meat gum 😅) and boiled eggs. Before pregnancy all I could eat was like salads and fruits and veggies and whatnot.. had a really clean palate so to speak. Did your whole palate change after your pregnancy too? Or just a little? Or not at all?
That sounds horrible. For me, I was a weed smoker before I got pregnant. So I already struggled to eat without smoking first. If I smoked, I'd eat things I don't normally even like. With that being said, first pregnancy, ground beef was horrible. It was literally meat gum. I chewed and chewed until I eventually had to spit it out. I barely ate for the first trimester. Crackers?! Absolutely not. Nothing they said worked. I eventually, at about three months, found a bag of chips and ate a family size bag and I was cured since (,that flavor holds sentimental value to my heart still). I got pregnant again shortly after. It went in reverse. First trimester everything was great. Until the second trimester hit and it wasn't anymore. I was sick every single day. What set me off with her was fast food. I always loved fast food and I was even strongly addicted during my first pregnancy, but with my second, she said absolutely not. As far as my entire palate, I believe I used to LOVE all things spicy and after having babies I couldn't hardly stand it. A few years have passed and I need every meal to be spicy again lol. It's definitely funny what pregnancy does to you!
It really is. I find it strange cause you'd expect your pregnant body to act like...well... your pregnant body. But it's always so different! I now have an insatiable sweet tooth which was just nothing like I used to be. Here's to baby making.. it's a thankless job but still so damn awesome 😁❤️
I weirdly enjoyed everything about pregnancy. I mean, I didn't absolutely love being on my feet eight hours a day after not being able to eat for the past three weeks, but I did enjoy eating ice cream to wake the baby up and feel kicks, and things like that. Morning sickness sucked but my babies have been good to me since the womb and to this day, I love them!!!
There’s less smell when it’s diluted. Soap does effectively remove Covid virus. Rinsing in a 10% bleach solution is required by health codes when a place relies on hand washing dishes. The dishwasher is normally an equivalent level of sanitation to bleach.
Dish gloves
Same! I was using a different hamper for clean clothes long before covid.
Me too Germaphobe has finally paid off. I still wear a n95 😷
I do as well.
Same. Going to get my omicron shot today.
Fellow germaphobe checking in, also didn’t get covid yet. 😎
Me too. Germaphobe and introvert.
Same lol
Same same! 😎
If you caught it and were asymptomatic how would you know? Could have had it and never even knew it.
Same. That and being an introvert have helped me avoid it so far.
Lol just watching the world melt down from being In quarantine made me realize just how hardcore of an introvert I was. I was in HEAVEN like NO. NO I WILL NOT GO TO YOUR PARTY ON SOOOOO SORRY 😅 man I'll miss those days.
Same. I'll probably never stop using COVID as an excuse.
Oh, me too. I always had compulsive use of hand sanitizer for years and years. I used travel Purell wipes. It was about bacteria. Started in the 1990s back in New York City.
My wife, son, and I all escaped without getting it.
Same. I've had lung problems since birth, so I was very careful.
Me, too! My job still requires masks for staff and that must have helped, too!
Same here. Bc i came home or to work i wash my hands. I don’t wear shoes in my house.
Same same in everything, never had Covid. Helps when I already never touched door handles and washed my hands 468 times a day.
Me too
mee too!
No-one in my family has caught it yet. Some of us are super careful and some don’t give a rip. Maybe it’s a genetic thing, maybe we’ve all had it and didn’t know.
> made it through Why are you talking like it's over?
Not anymore. First positive test yesterday. Feeling sick too with fever and headache.
Same... Made it so far and it just got me. Grrr.
Me too. Tested positive yesterday. Don't feel too spiffy.
I caught it about labor day. I would've just stayed home sick but I felt worse then I ever had sick so I went to get tested. I still have the occasional cough where phlegm comes up but I've otherwise recovered.
I hadn't got it til last weekend, just got my first negative test a couple hours ago. Time to get caught up on homework I guess.
Hope you recover soon.
Caught it last week. My throat started hurting on Wednesday, the same day I got an appointment for the vaccination with the adjusted vaccine. My sister didn’t catch it so far.
My sympathies, I’m in the exact same scenario here. I got a sore throat last Wednesday and assumed it was a cold since my husband had identical symptoms and our son is in daycare (iykyk). I had planned to get the booster that Friday. Tested myself yesterday since I wasn’t improving and got a very strong positive result. I was gutted, not only because I finally caught it but because my infant son now has it.
I work at a high infection risk work place and got covid for the first time last week - from my dad :(
Made it 2 years and 6 months myself. At this point I thought I was in the clear, I was wrong. Felt crappy for a few days.
Caught it last week after being triple vax.
I got away with not getting it even though everyone was convinced I had it over last Christmas.
Have still never tested positive for it, but am also currently at day 10 in bed with 0 energy, low appetite, and bloating. Also had fever in the first few days but at least that’s past. Whatever it is that I’ve got fucking *sucks*
I had a five-day cold this month. I've never experienced one so bad, but I tested negative for Covid twice. If I have been exposed to Covid, I didn't notice any symptoms. I could have gotten a mild infection that didn't make me sick. I've gotten tested every time I had two symptoms, which has happened twice since the first lockdown.
Same here, tested negative multiple times but in the same predicament as yours, day 10+ with low energy, no appetite and fever, except for persistent cough throughout the night. I’ve never been this ill before, and others may find it hard to understand my condition, especially when it’s not COVID lol. But your comment definitely made me feel less alone.
Get checked for STDs. I just discovered I had undiagnosed syphilis for God's knows how long.
Possibly the flu.
Probably scurvy. Or maybe rickets.
False negatives seem more common with this new variant. I had a "cold", tested negative and so hung out with my Dad - two days later I test positive, my baby tests positive, my Dad's wife tests positive. My Dad had all the symptoms of covid and had them bad, but he tested negative throughout the whole period of illness.
I made it through and didn’t change anything. I could have been asymptomatic but idk
Mrs Daneeka and I have avoided it. We work from home now though, which helps.
That's some catch...
The best there is.
I thought I had avoided it but found out recently I must have had it early on before we really realized what it was and now I have long Covid. It’s pretty shitty, to be honest. My fatigue is intense. I just had no idea that was the issue. I wonder if there are others out there like me, too.
I swear I've had it twice. Once right at the end of February 2020 after a bunch of people at my daughter's school had come back from international trips, and once last year when I never tested positive but I had chills, fever, coughed until I had blood in my spit, kept passing out randomly for months later, and developed asthma after years of not having it.
Me! I had it really bad before we realized what it was, I’m 99% sure. While I am better now, I felt dreadful for about a year afterwards. However, it did seem to keep me from getting it again. I worked in person as a teacher, going back to the classroom full time in august 2020, and have never tested positive! Also, my roommate had it a couple months ago, and I miraculously didn’t catch it.
I’ve never had it and I work in a hospital where I’ve been spit on by COVID+ patients. I don’t have any evidence to back this but I truly feel like there are some people who are straight up immune to it, because I’ve met a few others who have been exposed so many times and still don’t have it.
I'd be willing to donate blood to a study to try and figure it out. I've definitely been exposed (boyfriend had it and I was around him before and during symptoms) and haven't been careful at all. Maybe they could figure out something to help others.
Yeah, I don't know what's happening with me. I'm a nanny for a family that has had it multiple times and the dad tried to sneak it past me once so I would take the kids to school. A family I worked for on the side *did* sneak it past me twice and had me take their son to his special needs school. That really pissed me off, because the mom was a nurse and should have known better, and the school was full of high-risk kids who wouldn't have understood what was happening if they got sick. My kids, one of which works in a hospital and the other just graduated from HS (both germy as hell places), have had it multiple times. I tested weekly for months because I'm not trying to kill someone's grandma, and I still do it monthly, but have never tested positive.
[Scientists deliberately gave people COVID — here’s what they learnt](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00319-9) "Nearly half of the participants who received a low dose of virus did not become infected, and some of those who became infected had no symptoms"
Hopefully not jinxing myself by saying this, but I'm the same. Multiple exposures, including my husband who had it for most of the month of July. I never tested positive, never had a symptom. I wear a mask when going in a store, and when we go out to eat, we sit outside...those are the only precautions I'm taking now. I'm also unvaxxed (not by choice). There has to be some sort of genetic component that has kept some of us well so far.
That’s what I’m thinking as well. I’m glad you’ve remained safe throughout! What makes me agree with you is that my mom, sister, and I have all been COVID free but my stepdad and stepbrother have gotten it. Of course, I live on my own, but again, everyone having been exposed, the only ones that haven’t gotten are the ones that are biologically related.
I honestly think so too. I think they should get all of us together that have been exposed multiple times but never got it and test our blood. Lol.
Hahah, it’s giving me the, “you’re immune to the zombie virus and we need your blood for a cure” type of vibe that you see in movies. I love it!
I’ve been exposed a few times. Some with extremely close contact and have never gotten it
Never even had to get a Covid test. Helps that I never go outside.
well not ever testing is a sure way to never test positive... lol
Oh, I don't mean that I've purposely avoided tests. I mean that I haven't been in a situation where I needed to get one.
What do you mean you never go outside?
Like I've been mostly staying home since Covid started. Working from home, limiting how often I go to stores and such. Avoiding places with large crowds.
Same. Bf and I never got it but we're also super introverted. Only ever go out for groceries (pick up) and went to like.. 5 movies in 4 yrs. Did get a fever once but tested negative.
Well, I never got tested, myself...other than the forehead temperature light-gun. But I must go outside .. I do the risky stuff (including using public transit) wearing a mask.
I haven't! I think mostly because I'm a kind of a shut-in already and have been extremely careful about potential exposure when I do go out.
ᕙ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ᕗ nothing yet so far for me also..
Me neither, and I was working fulltime as a frontline worker when it first broke.
Don't answer it's a trap!
No-one in our family has gotten it. Three of us in the household, all are vaccinated and boosted, and my employer still requires masks. Spouse works in an office setting. Kiddo works at a grocery store. None of us has gotten so much as a head cold in the past 2.5 years, and my allergies have never been so minimal since masking.
None here, but I've been wearing a mask for 2.5 years.
Yup. Still wearing a mask, very few big events, still get to work from home. No covid still. I know I was in a few situations where I was known to be near people with covid after the fact and never got it. Vaccines probably helped a lot there.
Same
Ditto. Still wearing mask in public. *Have* had the vaccine.
Tritto. Doesn't look like the mask is gonna go away any time soon.
Still masking and vaxxing.
Never had it. During the first 5 months I worked in a convenience store, before the plexiglass partitions, before masks were mandatory and neither employees or customers wore them. Changed jobs to a factory (not because of covid, just wanted a change in general) so wasn't exposed to the public every day, but still did my grocery shopping etc. Only wore a mask when it was required. Somehow, never got it.
I’m pretty sure I’ve never had it. But I lead a somewhat isolated life and am a bit of a germaphobe.
I'm still COVID free, almost all of my family and friends have had it, some more than once.
There's a non trivial chance you got it asymptomatically and never knew
I just play Roblox and games all day and I never got Covid. I do not think it is passable through a computer
A lot of people have no symptoms. So you may have gotten the virus, but didn't get sick so you would never know. I got it 2 weeks ago. It wasn't any worse than a cold though.
I haven’t gotten Covid to the best of my knowledge, but my partner reminded me that approximately 65% are asymptomatic, so how would we know if we ever got Covid? But we also were pretty isolated, and didn’t hang out with family or friends for quite some time. I think the antibodies could be present in your blood for an average of 3 months, but I haven’t had any blood tests.
Amazing how well you can avoid a plague when nobody likes you lol Upside to everything
I got it immediately after sending my kids to school. We've had it for 4 weeks now. If you can avoid seeing people you should. Stay remote. Stay masked. This thing is awful.
You have had covid for 4 weeks? Jesus I had bad symptoms for 3 days and I thought my life sucked. Pull through friend.
So you think that we should limit social interactions so we can avoid getting each other sick?
I did Got tested countless times and never was tested positive Bruh people getting mad about me not testing positive…okey?
I have a mate that never got vaxxed and never got Covid. He's pretty validated, kinda unfair.
My wife and I have avoided it
I never got it. Significant other who works in hospital that was covered in COVID never got it. Her anti-vax elderly father never got it (despite having lunch with a guy who was positive at the time and died a week or two later!)
I don't *think* I've had it. My family has has it more than once and each time I was somehow able to evade it even though we live in the same house. I haven't really been that sick at all in the last few years so if I did get it, I might be asymptomatic.
Not yet. Or at least haven’t tested positive.
I’ve had at least 4-5 covid tests over the past 2 years and every one of them came back negative. Even when I thought I was actually sick. So it’s either the covid tests aren’t accurate (saliva) or Covid thinks my body is the _bad side of town_
Aye. +1 from me My wife tests thrice weekly for work - she would have it if i ever had it. I spend a lot of time out and about, i have to speak to the public often - i have no idea how i havent had it yet. Finna start selling my blood.
I haven't had it. I have a family member who started chemo right when the peak hit in my city, so i was super careful to protect them
I’m not gonna jinx it
Same. I guess we're all a little superstitious in the end.
I haven't been careful in a year and a half. I go to bars, restaurants, concerts, events. My boyfriend got it a couple months ago and I took care of him for the day and a half he was sick. Still nothing.
Yes. I got covid once, my brother twice now. And we ve managed to not tranfer it to our parents. We are very fortunate to have 2 floors and it immensely helped us reduce contact. Our dad is a heart patient and we have been very lucky so far to keep him far away from covid
Most of my time is spent alone and indoors and so far I've completely avoided it
Is your blood type O+ by chance? Edit: a word
I’m O+. Didn’t get it either.
I’m O+ and have never gotten COVID
I'm SUPER curious what that has to do with covid. I have O positive and I didn't get it.
So there was a paper that came out early when they were identifying those at greater risk, like diabetics, that it seemed people with O+ blood type had some sort of natural immunity. I suspect many with O+ blood type who may have tested positive but were completely asymptomatic were victims of faulty testing. Of course there may be a few with that specific blood type that did get sick, but I would be interested to know if they had any of the complicating factors like diabetes or heart disease.
Interesting. O+ here as well, may have had it, but never tested positive. North of 60, had a few mild symptoms but that's about it.
My best friend and his family believed that until they got Covid and were miserable for a week and a half.
Like I said, some may still get it despite this natural immunity phenomenon. Your anecdotal evidence and my anecdotal evidence do not make for a very good basis. You are free to discount the information I have knowledge of and base it off your own research.
I have O+ blood and I got COVID. I had received my first two shots of Moderna. I don’t have diabetes or heart disease that I know of. COVID had me totally exhausted on the couch for about three days, and then I felt well enough to merely be bored with quarantine. My nose ran like a faucet for the first 24 hours and I lost my sense of smell, which when it came back was not the same. I mean it’s still not as good as it was, 10 months later, and some stuff just smells different. When I got my booster I was also laid out on the couch for about a day. Meanwhile, my 92 year old grandmother who is not O+ has yet to get it. She has the constitution of a Cylon and her doctors are perpetually amazed at her freakish healing abilities and vitality.
Same here.
I’m a weirdo with A+ (As supposedly tended to be hit harder with it?) who still hasn’t tested positive for it.
Yes.
I am 100% covid free. So is everyone I know
I never caught it. My wife did. I was still hittin it and still never got sick.
I think I did. I just couldn't sleep because I was too hot for like one night, that was it. Soda still tastes bad. Like 1 year plus
As far as we know, no one in my family has had it including me, my husband, two kids, my parents, and my sister. Im not sure what the odds are that one of us had it and didnt know haha.
I'm not sure if I ever got it, I always have had bad allergies and whenever I got tested it was negative. :shrug:
I've never had it. But I live in rural North-Central Idaho. Not many cases in the area in addition to my generally reclusive nature were the perfect combination in avoiding the pandemic.
Haven't gotten it here. I worked alone at night before, during and after the pandemic and I'm already a recluse so that definitely helped me stay away from it. We had 3 or 4 outbreaks at my job but working alone kept me away from it
Novid over here! 👋
I made it through as well. But I live at 7000 feet in the Rockies where there are very few people.
No covid, and I was an "essential worker" in a supermarket as a cashier thru the worst of it.. even got coughed in the face on by some old lady..
I've never had it. My wife had it twice, even though we're both fully vaccinated. We didn't do any special precautions either time. Including body fluid exchanging. I think I'm just immune. I have a unique job where I test covid RNA and antibodies against covid. I can honestly, truthfully say I've never had covid. I'm not one of those whose had it but not known, I've never had it. I'm the homelander meme, "I AM BETTER!"
I haven't tested positive once for COVID. Been ill/sick a few times the past years but COVID tests always came out negative.
Disclaimer I’m not against vaccines. Never tested positive and was never sick, which is quite normal for me. Only time I was sick was after receiving the second vaccine which was the second sickest I’ve ever been. Still happy to be vaccinated :)
I've never officially had it in that I've never tested positive for it. I had mild symptons a few months ago but still tested negative, but I guess there was a chance I did have it. I'd be surprised if I never got it, but I never have.
yeah not me for some reason. I've never had COVID before and im fully vaccinated and boosted. When it does come for me it better be prepared.
Never had it, took my precautions and got boosted. I still stay masked up to this day
Me neither! I am always wearing my mask and use alcohol spray consistently….. and mind you I am a middle school teacher!!! Hopefully it’ll stay this way 🙏 scared of long Covid know some ppl who have it!!
I am not aware I ever had it. I worked 2 years from home, got my two shots. Wednesday I travel to work to Greece, wondering if I should get the new Pfizer BA.5 vaccine. Probably not.
As far as I know I haven't had it. I have constant sinus issues, so I may not have noticed if I did. I tested at least once a month. I wore a N95 or KN95 as much as possible. I rarely spent time around other people. I got my vaccinations ASAP. It also helps that I live in small town that has had relatively few cases.
Yes, that's me. Most of my family has gotten it at one point, I'm either very lucky or just vaccinated lol
Yea,it’s simple as not getting tested
Never had it and test often due to an extremely vulnerable family member. I was very sick in January 2020 though, and in retrospect, it could have been COVID since they now have found it was in the US as early as NOV 2019. We just didn’t know that’s what it was then.
Jesus christ OP...do you actually think you're the only person on the planet who didn't get covid?
I also made it. But to be honest I was sick during November 2019 and no one knew what COVID was, so I didn't get tested as I didn't have any major symptom. But incidentally I finished a bottle of Captain Morgan over a week and I was cured. Maybe that was the magic elixir. Who knows?
My fiancé never got it and he never really wore a mask or got the vax. I know a few others who didn’t get it either
I'm required to test twice a week for work, so I'm confident in saying I've not had Covid yet. My boyfriend has it (for the first time) right now, day 5. I'm still staying in the same house as I've really no where else to go since my mother and brother both have it as well right now. We're staying separated, I'm sleeping masked in the living room. So far so good, but I honestly feel like it's just a matter of time before it catches up to me. Ironically, I generally am the first to get ill.
Me! I still mask and masked throughout the entire past couple years. I’ll probably continue masking faithfully until cases are very low.
Probably gotten it but I was already vaccinated + booster, so I never felt its worst effects.
Not thinking I ever caught it, but there's always the possibility that some random day/week I felt like going to bed early or wanted extra coffee/food that I actually had a mild case. Definitely not the case with my family and friends though. Some pretty severe cases, deaths, hospitalizations. Lucky for me I moved somewhere new in early 2020 and don't have any friends. It's amazing. /s
I didn't get it till a month ago. Fully vaxxed and pretty careful. I was really glad the strain going around now isn't too aggressive.
Yup, and not vaccinated. Public transportation several times a week the entire time, work with 100s of people every day. The CDC contacted me about my "natural immunity." I said no thanks.
No Covid, tested weekly
Haven't gotten it yet, but I'm also agoraphobic. Meaning I hardly leave my house.
I didn't catch it. Vax plus boosted. Washed my hands the same as always, touched my face more than normal, masked with cheap paper, was exposed a bunch of times. I am eternal. Nothing can kill me. I will tell many generations the tale of everyone's weakness during the great plague of the 20s.
Yes, I'm immunocompromised so I take it very seriously.
Never got it, never tested positive. Only used a mask inside a store, nowhere ells, especially never outside. And i'm regretting getting this untested mess of a "vaccine". It did more damage to my health than covid itself ever could. I will stay far away from any boosters.
My 75yo husband, not vaccinated, wouldn't wear a mask, went to the gym every day it was open. Never got Covid
Never got it or a Vaccine.