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Covid

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Original poster

To actively want to be infected and get Covid out of the way...

247 replies

treeflowercat · 15/01/2022 05:34

This might sound crazy but I'd actually quite like to get Covid over the next few weeks.

I'm triple jabbed and have never had it (even though everyone in my house has) but I hate the anxiety of planning events and holidays knowing that an infection could ruin them (a colleague recently had to postpone their long planned trip abroad due to a positive Covid test.

I also hate the feeling that I may be infected (without knowing it even after a negative LFT) when visiting my elderly parents, especially when staying with them for a few days.

I know that getting infected won't give me immunity forever, but I'd likely be at extremely low risk of infection over the spring and summer if I got Omicron now... That would be a massive relief to me.

I know I could get it severely but that's extremely unlikely, and I could get long Covid, but all in all, i'm very unlikely never to get Covid so it seems far better for me to get now and to isolate with what will probably just be a cold now in January when I've got little planned, than run the gauntlet over the spring/summer with all the anxiety this will cause.

All things considered it seems a rational weighing up of the risks, but I'm sure not everyone will see it that way.... Am I crazy?

OP posts:
PinchOfVom · 15/01/2022 05:40

Kinda pointless since you can get it more than once 🙄

DockOTheBay · 15/01/2022 05:42

I think by summer they will have remind the isolation requirement so getting covid won't mean you have to cancel holidays etc

sykadelic · 15/01/2022 05:45

Yep crazy. I know several people who've had it twice (so far) even though vaccinated, and the latest had to take a fair bit of time off because it was a variant and the efficacy of the vaccine on those is practically non existent (per Pfizer CEO)

Egghead68 · 15/01/2022 05:45

You can get it twice is quick succession, see e.g. Keir Starmer

MintJulia · 15/01/2022 05:47

It won't achieve anything. You can get covid more than once. It's a bit like saying 'I'd quite like to catch food poisoning.'

actiongirl1978 · 15/01/2022 06:17

Yep you can get it multiple times. I'm just waiting to catch it for a third time.

Curlyreine · 15/01/2022 06:25

After having had it last year, it's not something I would actively choose, myself.

rrhuth · 15/01/2022 06:29

@MintJulia

It won't achieve anything. You can get covid more than once. It's a bit like saying 'I'd quite like to catch food poisoning.'
Plus the risk of a nasty bout, long COVID, after effects etc will be there with each bout

Unfortunately none of us have s clear route to certainty with covid, so catching it now won't really help.

RenGreen · 15/01/2022 06:37

@sykadelic

Yep crazy. I know several people who've had it twice (so far) even though vaccinated, and the latest had to take a fair bit of time off because it was a variant and the efficacy of the vaccine on those is practically non existent (per Pfizer CEO)
Even with a booster?
Original poster
treeflowercat · 15/01/2022 08:30

The reason some people have had it twice in quick succession is that Omicron was more significantly different to prior variants. Prior to that rapid re-infection was very, very rare indeed, even with Delta.

There may be another evading variant come along over the next few months, but omicron was the first such one to gain traction in two years, so it's unlikely.

OP posts:
Original poster
treeflowercat · 15/01/2022 08:36

@DockOTheBay

I think by summer they will have remind the isolation requirement so getting covid won't mean you have to cancel holidays etc
Even if they do that, firstly, I'd prefer to have Covid now rather than when I go away.

Secondly, I'd be surprised if you're allowed in a plane by summer with Covid symptoms even if they remove the isolation period. Besides, i really wouldn't want to be on a plane with Covid symptoms- it would be extremely anti-social even if it was allowed!

Thirdly, even if the U.K. did this, will all other countries follow suit?

It seems like too much of a risk to me...

OP posts:
middleager · 15/01/2022 08:36

Yes, you are crazy, given reinfection and pptentional illness. I can get the flu/cold more than once, but it doesn't mean I won't catch it again, and who'd willingly do that?

Presunably you can WFH, have good sick pay, or don't work to facilitate that?

Getting Covid still won't stop you potentially missking key events if you or a family member is a close contact.

SeeminglyOblivious · 15/01/2022 08:37

Yes I understand op.

Me, DH and ds3 had it recently. Ds1 and ds2 tested negative the whole time (God knows how - we had at least one positive case in the house for 3 weeks and there was no social distancing - they were sharing cups with infected ds3, kisses on the lips and everything!).

However I would have preferred that ds1 and 2 were positive too. Yes they could still have got it again but it would have been nice to feel a bit more certainty for the next few weeks or months that our holiday/their birthdays etc won't need to be cancelled.

ILookAtTheFloor · 15/01/2022 08:40

I tried it when DH had it last week.

It didn't work and I didn't get it! I basically surrendered to Covid but alas, my immune system wasn't playing ball. And I'm over 10 weeks since I had the booster and had thought it would've worn off by now.

Original poster
treeflowercat · 15/01/2022 08:41

None of you have yet put forward a good enough reason for me not to go and get Covid over the coming weeks....

The rapid re-infection is only an issue if another evading Omicron variant arising soon... the likelihood of that doesn't sufficiently alter my risk/benefit analysis.

Maybe I'm not crazy at all... The more I think about it, the more rational it seems.

OP posts:
Delatron · 15/01/2022 08:41

I have to say I’m pleased to have had it. I had omicron, would have been less pleased about Delta as you can then go on to get Omicron.

It was mild and I was also relieved not to get long Covid. I’m less worried about upcoming holidays.. about to get a booster so hopefully that will prolong immunity for some while.

Omicron is so infectious I’ve read another strain is unlikely to outcompete it...so if you have some omicron immunity how long does that last is the question? Have people been reinfected with the same strain or is it always a different strain?

I think it’s a good mindset to be relaxed about it anyway. Most of us will get Covid at some point I’d it’s circulating every year. Exposure builds immunity.

WindInTheWillows7 · 15/01/2022 08:43

Infection gives you much better protection than a vaccine so yanbu

WaystarRoycoCEO · 15/01/2022 08:44

Yep I felt exactly the same - dh and I both said we wanted to get it at the start of Jan as we’re going on holiday (hopefully!) in Feb and it would be good to not have to worry about getting it over there. Yes I know you can catch it more than once but really that’s highly unlikely within the space of only a few weeks!

We were talking about this earlier this week and both did a random lateral flow….. and mine came back with a really strong positive!!! Totally unexpected. I haven’t had a single symptom and dh is desperately hoping he catches it from me!

Ultimately pretty much everyone is going to get it at some point, there’s no point pretending we can dodge it forever.

Original poster
treeflowercat · 15/01/2022 08:44

Getting Covid still won't stop you potentially missking key events if you or a family member is a close contact.

How exactly? If I was a close contact after being infected, why would that mean I would need to miss something?

OP posts:
Delatron · 15/01/2022 08:45

You may have natural immunity though OP if you’ve dodged it until now despite a houseful of Covid. Or had an asymptomatic case.

I also read some people are just more susceptible to Covid and the opposite is true for others.

Original poster
treeflowercat · 15/01/2022 08:45

Presunably you can WFH, have good sick pay, or don't work to facilitate that?

Yes, I can work from home...

OP posts:
RedHot22 · 15/01/2022 08:46

I had it some time ago and I’m still not well.

Hollyhead · 15/01/2022 08:47

@sykadelic ineffective against catching or transmitting, vaccines are still highly effective against death or serious disease (as can be seen in that Gents in ICU beds have actually decreased through this wave).

It’s very dangerous for people to keep going round saying that the vaccines are useless in the face of omicron they are absolutely not they just won’t stop you from getting it anymore.

Delatron · 15/01/2022 08:47

I do get where you’re coming from. I’ve got a few holidays coming up in the next months. Given how infectious Omicron is, if I hadn’t had it I would be worried about just catching it before then. Now I’m very relaxed and can actually look forward to them for once! Plus the testing should be stress free (as long as PCR doesn’t show old infection).

middleager · 15/01/2022 08:51

Sorry, I was not clear. If somebody you know has Covid or is a close contact and has to isolate (for whatever reason) then this will mean that family events, days out etc still can't go ahead.

We've all had Covid in my house (except DH) but if one of the kids gets it again at school (highly likely) then that would put pay to potential days out, holidays etc. So even though I've had Covid, it doesn't mean that we can plan ahead properly.