Thread by @marcelsalathe

Tonight, my COVID isolation ends.

A quick summary thread on my experience getting COVID (in my 7th month after my 2nd Moderna dose), and what I learned from it.

1/n

COVID found its way to me, not too surprisingly, through what epidemiologists call "a household contact". In this case, my daughter. She is not 12 yet, and Switzerland hasn't yet rolled out vaccines for that age group.

2/n

Unfortunately, at her public school, no testing was ever done. In the 2 years since the start of the pandemic, she was not asked to do a single test at school. Also, no masks.

Not surprisingly, almost everyone in her class started catching it.

3/n

In the past few months, I was concerned about her getting COVID, hoping that if she caught it, it would be mild. (My son is older and in the age class where he could get the vaccine a few months ago).

As a 2x vaccinated, I was not too concerned for myself.

4/n

However, as the data about vaccine waning started to accumulate, I was eager to get the booster shot. Unfortunately, Switzerland started rolling out the booster campaign relatively late. As a healthy 46 year old, I was not on any priority list.

5/n

Where I live, the government stuck strictly to the 6 month limit. But when I walked into the vaccination center more than 6 months after my 2nd shot, I was turned away - "no reservation!". The reservation system was not yet open for my age group.

6/n

Looking into a largely empty vaccination center, and people telling me I can't get a booster shot because I don't have a reservation (which I cannot get), even though I'm at 6+ months, is an image I will likely never forget - after all we went through in the past 2 years.

7/n

The next morning, the self test of my daughter turns positive. I am in my 7th month after the 2nd dose, and know what this means. I've very likely already been sufficiently exposed, and it's quite possible my immune system won't be able to prevent infection.

8/n

Happily, the course of my daughter's infection is mild.

3 days later, my self test also turns positive. At this point, I have mild symptoms, a bit of a sore throat, a bit of a cough.

In the meanwhile, the self tests of my daughter continue to be super positive.

9/n

The PCR result of my daughter comes back - NEGATIVE. What?? My wife tells me the test was just a quick swab at the back of her mouth.

We ask for second test, nasopharyngeal. This one comes back POSITIVE.

Thank you self-tests for the clear signal!

10/n

Anyways, my symptoms vary widely in the first three days, from cough to abdominal pain to runny nose to headache, with some random and short-term skin rash added to the mix.

My nasopharyngeal PCR test comes back, POSITIVE, with CT value 17 (very high viral load).

11/n

Meanwhile, the PCR test of my wife (recently boosted) and of my son (vaccinated ~ 3 months ago) are NEGATIVE, as are their self tests.

In an isolated / quarantined household with two COVID cases with high viral loads, they do not get infected. Yay for (recent) vaccines!

12/n

On day 4, all symptoms are gone, but exhaustion sets in.

This is the weirdest part. I get up the chair, walk up one flight of stairs, and my pulse goes from 70 to over 120.

I am largely in bed for the next 4 days. Hey Kindle!

13/n

I make a self-test every day - it's the scientist in me 😉I need DATA. They're always super positive (i.e. the liquid hits the test strip region and instantly lights up).

On days 7/8, I am starting to feel a slight improvement. Tests still positive, but less clearly so.

14/n

I'm now on day 9, I can work all day, but still feel more easily tired. Things are going in the right direction though.

Clearly, this has been a mild case. I can work from home, but would I feel fit enough to go do a physical job (nurse, officer, store, etc)? Not yet.

15/n

A quick note on CT: I am using a digital contact tracing app. I enter the code, my wife gets a notification, so that works.

Traditional contact tracing is mostly self-reports, with bad online forms.

16/n

What have I learned? This is my personal experience:

- COVID sucks even if it is mild.
- Self tests are great
- Vaccines prevent infection, if you get the timing right

My suggestion: get the booster as soon as you can.

17/n

Final observation: we're nowhere near ready to "control" this. Infections running rampant in schools, with limited measures. PCR tests not done properly; Self tests hard to get. And now Omicron getting started.

2 years in, I wish we'd be in a better position.

#StaySafe

18/18