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

[treeflowercat]

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?

I think there is a peace of mind that comes with having it and being ok after.

I’ve been in a very good mood for January after my recovery. Before I was worried I’d get it and be the outlier who is seriously ill or get long Covid. That worry has gone now. Also thinking about it every time I went to a pub/restaurant.

I now feel very calm. The underlying stress of ‘when’ has gone.

@KeepYaHeadUp

YABU - I wouldn't want to risk requiring a trip to A&E/hospital/ICU at this stage.

The risk for the OP may be tiny, as it is for most people.

I feel like you OP.
I want to not feel covid is looking over my shoulder.
However no-one is my house has had it yet. Maybe we have a little extra immunity as kuds have been in school, and have been close contacts plenty of times.
I understand what other posters are saying with regards to reinfection but I would also like to have a few months of not expecting to have covid.

Hey, go and have some fun and test regularly in case you need to isolate. Why not?
I threw this idea out to my 75-year-old dad who had his booster in August. I think after his FOURTH jab, he needs to go out and have fun so he can get a light case and boost his immunity before he gets any older. He tends to sit around the house though, and I worry that if he catches it in 5 years because he normally stays at home most of the time anyway, it'll be really bad.

Can you point out where anyone has said this?

Quote post didn’t work. Can you point out where anyone said this? “ indeed... I'm not sure why some people think omicron offers no protection against subsequent omicron infection, thus making it different to any other virus in existence!”

@treeflowercat

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.

The alpha and delta variants also gained significant traction, not just omicron.

You can be reinfected with the same strain you have already had, although probably not for a few months.

I had it over summer and again over new year. I'm quite confident I'll be OK for a while now but I'm not holding my breath for over the summer

I get not wanting to test positive 2 days before a holiday, but why would anyone want to "give their immune system a boost" against a virus that they genuinely believe will not make them ill and that they expect to catch repeatedly anyway?

I had it December 2020. Was rough enough. Have it again now. I think omicron. Feels like a bad head cold and very sore throat (I'm triple jabbed). I'm expecting a baby in April so hoping that I won't get it again for a few months at least 🤞🏼

Nope I want to avoid it if I can.

I can understand your thinking op. I am currently on day 10 (and thankfully my last day) of isolation as I have covid. Really did feel it was inevitable that we would catch it at some point. My eldest had it In September and he's the only one who has stayed clear this time around

Thankfully none of us were really poorly and obviously I don't know how we will fair about long covid yet. But I can just hope that it means our plans for the next few months can go ahead with less worry.

My brother has just tested positive for the 3rd time running so I don't really think it's a case of catching it and getting it out of the way. I understand what you mean though. I haven't had it yet and I feel I'm constantly just waiting to get it over and done with

[quote Blubells]*@Blubells I mean COVID generally.

If you can't catch it twice, why now not later?*

But 'Covid' is not the virus. It's the Delta or Omicron virus that infects people. If you have evidence of people being reinfected with the same variant, especially Omicron, I'd be very interested.

Regarding your question why now? The younger you are, the better outcome generally.[/quote]
But this still makes no sense to me.

If Omicron passes and I have not caught it by thetime it has passed through, I am far less likely to catch it later when I am older if it is not widely circulating.

Are you saying I should catch Omicron now to help protect me from x/y/z variant? That seems a bit of a 'hit and hope' strategy.

I don't understand your reasoning that repeated infection by this novel virus might be advantageous in some way.

This virus attacks every vital organ. It is fast mutating amd mutates in surprising ways. It causes long covid. Do we know the extent of cumulative damage of repeated infection? How do we know that repeated infection is not causing repeated damage with every infection, not just to our vital organs but to our immune sytems as well. That it might attack or exhaust our immune sytem in some way. Do you know for sure it doesn't?

The best caution to take it seems to me, is to
Avoid the virus
Get vaccinated

@Northsoutheastwest76

Nope I want to avoid it if I can.

Yes me too.

If a friend told me they had flu, I'd swerve them rather than catch. Same with covid. It is very hard to avoid covid, but I would rather avoid if possible.

I’m not sure if I’ve had it asymptomatically but I feel relief my dc have had it and are fine.

One did have symptoms, the other didn’t, but it feels they got it over with for a while. And will be building immunity for whatever next

I think you're an idiot.

I worked with someone who was this cavalier. Got their jabs, complained about bubbles in school because they wanted to go around and their next door neighbour got Covid and he's a 90 year old man and it was just a cold and we should all just get on with it.

I was very kind and didn't say anything about this on her Facebook statuses in the last few months where she got Covid, was really ill and then posted saying she was frightened as the nurse who was in charge of oxygen monitoring was suggesting she may need hospitalisation.

My bright, energetic, lively ten year old son had Covid in November and it's still knocked the stuffing out of him.

I'd be massively shocked if you weren't part of the able-bodied community who take their health for granted. Those who have experienced long term illness or disability rarely demonstrate such a sense of privilege or stupidity about a virus which is currently scoring 200-300 deaths a day.

If they keep all this testing for holidays in the next couple of years I reckon there will be covid parties as people want to get this years variant out of the way in January if they have trips of a lifetime booked for spring/summer.

I'd be massively shocked if you weren't part of the able-bodied community who take their health for granted

Yes I am able bodied and no I don't take my health for granted. I'm very thankful for it. I also work hard at staying healthy.

Of course catching Covid (like many viruses) affects people differently and I would want to avoid Omicron if I was in any way vulnerable.

But when my teen DD caught it last week (and got it mildly) I was glad she got it during her school holidays. Hopefully she'll have some immunity ahead of her exams this summer.

@QueenLagertha

I had it December 2020. Was rough enough. Have it again now. I think omicron. Feels like a bad head cold and very sore throat (I'm triple jabbed). I'm expecting a baby in April so hoping that I won't get it again for a few months at least 🤞🏼

You almost certainly had Delta in December and Omicron now... I hope you're better soon. The idea that omicron will re-infect people within weeks is erroneous.

I felt a bit like you OP until I saw long covid and severe covid with my own eyes in young people I know well who were previously heathy.

There are variants of omicron already because that's what viruses do they mutate and change, trends are reported upon, the data thread commented upon this yesterday. There are reports starting to come out of SA of reinfections, I saw this on Twitter this week.

Why some people are having long term symptoms is not known, so I'm avoiding infection. Hopefully a new generation of vaccine that is more robust will be along soon.

It does not attack every vital organ! I didn’t even have a cough. For a rare few they have these complications.

Why would this virus be the anomaly? Especially being a coronavirus. That infection doesn’t provide antibodies and t-cell immunity? That’s the way we build immunity to viruses. That hasn’t changed!

If this virus was going to go away then I’d agree with the avoidance strategy. As it’s here to stay I’d like to build up some long term immunity. That means living my life as I normally would and not hiding away.

With regards to the older population. My asthmatic DF (72) has not been particularly careful throughout this pandemic. He’s a sociable guy, he was back in the pub the day they opened. He looks after grandchildren and his son is a teacher who has had Covid a few times. I have no doubt he must have been exposed.

Then my Mum catches Omicron but he doesn’t get it. And we know how infectious Omicron and how it evades vaccine immunity. So how do we explain this?! He was also around grandchildren when they vomited everywhere with Omicron. Could it be his relaxed and sociable lifestyle had actually protected him? Or maybe he had an asymptomatic case. I feel for those that live in fear of this now. The best we can do is live our lives. I feel a huge sense of relief that it’s run through my entire family and everybody has been fine. Maybe luck. But hiding away from viruses does nothing to build a strong immune system. It’s time to change our thinking I think. Especially with Omicron.

Unless you’re prepared to change your life permanently? Never go to a party, the theatre, a pub, travel? What a life.

I don’t think it’s any coincidence either that you hear stories of those that have been ‘so careful’ then catch Covid the first time they venture out to the shops.::

I’d also like to know how people are ‘avoiding’
Infection? What steps are you taking?

It looks like @QueenLagertha must have had the alpha variant if it was Dec 2020 and omicron now. That’s a year between infections not a month.

Nobody will have had omicron twice (if that’s a possibility) as it’s too early.