Thread by @sambit_dash

So, yesterday I completed 14 days of isolation.
Yes, the virus struck.
It was a breakthrough infection as I was fully vaccinated on 12th March.
And, vaccines work!
Let me share the story in a few tweets.. #COVID19

I did not run a high temperature in all these days. Popped only one paracetamol on Day 1.
Oxygen saturation normal throughout. No extra medicines (took 3 tablets of multivitamin and then decided not to make expensive urine).

The baffling part: first symptom of mild fever was observed 10 days after I went to the lab, where I went with double mask, face shield; where no one was infected. And in the intervening 10 days didn't step of house even once.

Of course, contact tracing is useless with TPR of 30 percent and more. Moment there was a fever, it had to be tested, and the ease with which it happens at our university is a blessing. I did hesitate though since the fever didn't return the next morning, but went nevertheless.

I was a bundle of nerves tbh. With a kid at home, families so far away, and unpredictability of the disease, I was on tenterhooks. At 3:52 am in the morning, the 'positive' message arrived. I had already isolated in one of the rooms with attached washroom.

Announcing it: telling everyone relevant the result was cathartic in a way. I really can't imagine how people go on hiding it. Planning logistics in the house was important. Having a very understanding 6 yr old helps immensely.

Another huge privilege was to have the the outstanding doctor @shashikiranu to consult. A word from him, plan to get blood work, x-ray done on Day 5, was much necessary to soothe frayed nerves. Taste and smell going off on Day 3 was a very weird feeling.

I also panic messaged my good friend @ajumathew_ and the erudite @pseudo_sapiens talking to whom was very reassuring. It was kind of doctor friends @DrSoumyadeepB and @drkamnakakkar to call. Much needed in the tough isolation.

The next tenterhooks moment was when primary contact, wife, tested on Day 7. She tested negative. All the more reason why my sample should have been sent for genomic sequencing!

People who know me here were and still are slightly worried, bewildered, for they know how strictly I adhere to mask - not pulling down once for coffee in meetings, for talking; stay at home - we order everything. I still am clueless and it's a bit concerning.

A colleague said on Day 1 to start Ivermectin, vit D, vit C and the trope. I said they don't work. The logic he provided was so what it'll deworm and if reduce viral load even a bit, will be helpful. Of course, I didn't take those.

It was a tough time tbh. Nothing prepares you for the uncertainty of the moment. I still wonder if and what will be the implications of long Covid. The infection was like a booster dose of sorts. The inability to roughly identify infection source is troubling.

But the moral of the story (there are other stories for another day) is that VACCINES WORK wonderfully well. It was a privilege to get fully vaccinated early in the day and I realise that. One should get vaccinated as soon as there is the opportunity! *Thank you*